In 2023, nearly 96 per cent of new graduates in Malta were employed, as revealed by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat).

In addition, the employment rate of recent graduates in Malta was the highest among 22 EU countries, surpassing the EU average rate of 83.5 per cent.

This implies that students in this country are more likely to secure a job offer after graduation, Schengen.News reports.

After Malta, other EU countries that recorded a notable employment rate of recent graduates were the Netherlands, Iceland, Germany, and Austria.

On the other hand, the lowest employment rates were recorded in Italy (67.5 per cent), Greece (72.3 per cent), Romania (74.8 per cent), Croatia (78.2 per cent), and Spain (78.7 per cent).

Eurostat noted that the overall employment rate among recent graduates in the EU has constantly increased over the past ten years, reaching almost  84 per cent in 2023.

In 2013, the rate was 74.3 per cent and has been rising steadily since then. The exception was the pandemic-affected 2020 (78.7 per cent) when a decrease of 2.3 pp was observed compared with 2019 (81 per cent).

Top 20 Most In-Demand Jobs For Those Looking to Work in Malta

Although having a high employment rate of new graduates, Malta still needs an additional workforce to fill several vacancies across its territory.

One of the reasons may be Malta’s population size of 542,051, as estimated in 2022.

The 2023 EURES report on shortages and surpluses revealed that Malta is facing shortages in 20 occupations across different industries, including manufacturing, construction, healthcare, food service and hospitality,  business and administration, and transportation.

According to the above-mentioned report, some of the professionals facing a worker shortage in Malta include:

1. Messengers, package deliverers and luggage porters
2. Manufacturing labourers not elsewhere classified
3. Building construction labourers
4. Cleaners and helpers in offices, hotels and other establishments
5. Car, taxi and van drivers
6. Security guards
7. Health care assistants
8. Child care workers
9. Shop sales assistants
10. Bartenders
11. Waiters
12. Accounting and bookkeeping clerks
13. Contact centre information clerks
14. Bookmakers, croupiers and related gaming workers
15. General office clerks
16. Chefs
17. Administrative and executive secretaries
18. Office supervisors
19. Business services and administration managers not elsewhere classified
20. Managing directors and chief executives

Malta Aims to Attract Highly-Skilled Workers Amid Labour Shortages

Considering shortages and its population size, Malta is looking to attract highly skilled workers, in particular.

Regarding this, Malta has launched the Specialist Employe Initiative (SEI), an alternative for highly skilled third-country nationals (TCNs) who are not eligible for the Key Employee Initiative but have relevant academic or technical skills for the offered job in Malta.

According to Identita, an agency under the Maltese government, only TCNs who have signed an employment contract with a company registered in Malta are entitled to apply under this scheme.