- 2016Design
- 2017Design
- 2018Design
- 2019Design
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Completed
Background
The National reform programme (2016) highlighted the need for a more structured approach to the analysis of skills gaps and skills shortages through the setting up of a National Skills Council (NSC) through Subsidiary Legislation 327.547 alongside measures aimed at increasing skills levels overall.
For its part, Jobsplus (Malta’s public employment services) contributes to improving the employability of the workforce in line with its legal mandate (Act XXXIX of 2018) and the priorities established in the National employment policy (2014) document. Jobsplus provides training courses and training schemes for assisting individuals wishing to prepare themselves for gainful occupation, or desiring to improve or update the quality of their knowledge and skills for the same purpose; and to provide support to trade testing boards in designing and conducting assessments to ascertain a person’s proficiency or competences in a particular occupation.
Objectives
The development of the econometric model by Jobsplus is expected to inform policy-makers of future skill requirements. At the same time, the model can be utilised as a tool for creating different scenarios based on changes in the underlying assumptions. The comparison of results between scenarios can support impact assessments of policies and in fields such as education systems policies and migration policies.
Description
During 2018, work started on the design of an econometric model to forecast labour market demand and supply in Malta. The development of this model was contracted to the Institute of Economic Studies at the Slovak academy of sciences, whose expertise lies expressly in this area. Jobsplus constantly kept in touch with experts from this institute to oversee various tasks, such as the transmission of data from domestic sources, and to delineate specific preferences about the intended model’s working, specifications and output. Quarterly meetings were held with the experts during which the progress to date on the construction of the model was presented. These meetings gave the parties involved the opportunity to discuss the technical issues involved and to agree on future action. Consultations were held with the Ministry for Finance and the Central Bank of Malta, whose representatives gave expert advice on econometric issues surrounding the general equilibrium modelling of the Maltese economy.
Cedefop provided technical advice.
Implementation continued. No major developments
In 2018, Jobsplus set about finding expertise to assist it develop an econometric model designed to forecast labour market demand and supply in Malta.
During 2019, the skills forecasting model was updated and some final refinements were carried out in an effort to make the model more robust. Its implementation will start by Q1 2020.
The assessment unit will be working on the analysis of the present and future skills scenario. The skills development unit has to work on strengthening the upskilling processes and mechanisms while the industry-education hub will continue to work on enhancing the quality of work-based learning and the relevance of education curricula to industry needs. The strategy also identifies the need to augment the current focus on digital skills and artificial intelligence (AI) to include skills for a green economy and for improvements in labour productivity.
In 2019, Jobsplus issued a call for tenders for a survey to monitor the evolution of the labour market by gauging which occupations experience shortages or surpluses and how employers in Malta deal with such shortages or surplus.
Following a Cabinet reshuffle in November 2020, there was a change in Ministries' portfolio, the Ministry for Finance and Employment took on the responsibility for Jobsplus from the Ministry for Education. The skills forecasting model started to be implemented and currently the model is being used by Ministry for Finance and Employment (MFE) for economic and labour market analysis and policy.
In 2021, the Ministry for Finance and Employment published the National Employment Policy (NEP) 2021-2030. Chapter five of the NEP outlines the forecasting exercise that was carried out together with a set of five future scenarios, using the structural annualised econometric model for Malta (SAMM), a modelling framework developed by the Economic Policy Department (EPD) within the Ministry for Finance and Employment in collaboration with Cambridge Econometrics. This model is used routinely for economic and labour market projections.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry for Education (MFED)(until 2022)
- Ministry of Education and Employment (MEDE) (until 2020)
- Jobsplus (Public Employment Service)
- Ministry for Finance and Employment (MFE) (until 2024)
- Ministry for Finance
Target groups
Other stakeholders
- National, regional and local authorities
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Development of a skills forecasting model: Malta. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28425