Background information

The Skills Development Scheme is a scheme offered by the Malta Enterprise. It aims to support organisations in providing training that develops or updates the knowledge and skills of their workforce.

During an announcement of COVID-19 related measures which aimed to aid in economic recovery, it was announced that an additional €5 million would be contributed to this scheme.

Content of measure

The Skills Development Scheme helps business provide training to develop and update the skills and knowledge of their workforce, although such training is not mandatory for the operation of the business. The measure also does not cover team building activities, company culture, brand identity and other similar actions, or training related to gambling. The original scheme was applicable until 31 December 2022 and had a budget of €30 million. Among the costs covered by the program are wage costs of trainees and trainers, air travel in sending trainees abroad or bringing trainers to Malta, and the rental of necessary equipment and training rooms.

There is limited information available on how this scheme will be developed in view of COVID-19, however it was stated that: "Malta Enterprise will be building upon an existing measure to reach more businesses through a top-up of €5 million on the budget allocation for this scheme. This top-up shall be directed towards those businesses that employ fewer than 50 persons. The aim will be that of advocating mainly in-house training, and focus on fostering the sharing of skills between the most experienced and younger employees. This will also help us to address skills dissipation once workers retire."

Use of measure

Statistics on the uptake of this measure were not published.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Self-employed	SMEs One person or microenterprises	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Through a tripartite agreement, a package of measures to save jobs and organisations was agreed on 24 March 2020. This was the third and most significant package of measures announced by the government. Following this agreement, social partners remained in direct contact with the government highlighting their proposals of what was felt was still necessary to save the Maltese economy and jobs. On the 8 June 2020 the government announced a 'mini budget' to help the Maltese economy to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the fourth package of measures announced by the government. The current measure formed part of this package. The current measure is administered by the Malta Enterprise.

Views and reactions

The fourth package of measures, of which the current measure formed part of, received public support from an array of social partners. Those positive and vocal about it were primarily business associations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of SMEs, the Malta Employers' Association, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, and the Association of Catering Establishments. These associations commented on the proposals in general which also included reduced electricity tariffs, aid with rent, and vouchers. Also, the General Workers' Union supported the package. The feedback on the overall package from unions was more mixed; THe Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin (UHM) Voice of the Workers argued that only 6% of €900 million mini-budget will end up benefiting workers directly.

Sources

• 01 January 2020: Malta Enterprise - Skills Development Scheme 2020 - Pre-Covid-19
• 08 June 2020: Skills development scheme (covid19.maltaenterprise.com)