Prime Minister says work-life balance proposals will not negatively impact productivity during debate

Prime Minister Robert Abela believes that his party’s family friendly measures proposals will not negatively impact productivity.

Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Alex Borg faced off in the second debate of the election campaign so far, this one hosted by the Malta Chamber of SMEs.

Responding to a question from the audience about the discrepancy between men and women in business, the Prime Minister mentioned how 40 per cent of managerial posts within the public sector are taken up by women, and how he wants this to be replicated in the private sector.

He spoke about first creating an ecosystem of incentives in business, and then about more flexibility practices.

He mentioned some of the PL’s manifesto proposals which include increasing maternity leave to 26 weeks and paternity leave to a month, as well as the introduction of 6 months parental leave, among others.

In 2012 Malta had the second worst rate of job creation, he said. Dr Abela said that today, Malta has among the best rates of female participation in the workforce.

“I believe that these family friendly measures will not only not have a negative impact on productivity, but will improve it. That is why we are accompanying them with investment in employers,” he said, mentioning a €1,000 grant for businesses to invest in digital technology.

He said that the economy and the country reached a point where it can handle investing in quality of life improvements.

“I believe that an employee who is happy at work, who feels there is a fair balance between work and raising a child at sensitive time, that they would be the employee who will be the most productive.”

He said that the Government will be carrying the financial burden of these measures.

PN Leader Alex Borg spoke of women finding obstacles to start a business or continue working, and the need for these obstacles to be removed.

He highlighted the importance of new economic niches which offer opportunities for women, mentioning here both the creative industry and the AI, data and new space niches which the PN wants to invest in. He said they incentivise start-ups and said that women are successful in both these sectors.

Regarding the work-life balance, Mr Borg mentioned some of his party’s proposals for parents, including the creation of 15 days sick leave to care for their children, paid for by the Government, and maternity and paternity increases. The PN is proposing six months of maternity leave and more leave for fathers.

Also during the debate, the two leaders clashed over the PN’s proposed offshore LNG hub and mass transportation.

PN Leader Alex Borg said that a PN government would see the first mass transport line up and running within five years. Dr Abela said that this brought the PN’s credibility into question as the PN’s LNG hub proposal wouldn’t be operational within that time period.

This then saw the Prime Minister question who the PN’s experts on the LNG hub were, a local controversy that had emerged when the Prime Minister previously alleged that the idea came from a contrabandist. The PN Leader refused to name who the PN’s experts behind the proposal are, but reminded that he signed a sworn declaration that he did not meet any contrabandist, and refused to provide the names of the experts for fear of the Prime Minister’s vindictiveness.

The two leaders also sparred over green open spaces, with the PN Leader mentioning the sand at the Ta’ Qali picnic area, and the Prime Minister mentioning various parks that had been opened or improved throughout the legislature.

Asked about the employee shortage and overpopulation, Mr Borg said that more than half of employers believe Malta has a problem of finding workers. Here he focused on upskilling workers, and also on dividing Identita into two entities, one of which would be a one-stop shop for third-country nationals and businesses to help improve the situation.

Mr Borg also said that he would appoint an authority responsible for population levels that would conduct a labour market study of the country, which would be published.

Dr Abela said that such a study is regularly conducted already.

He spoke of initiatives the Government already took, including the labour migration policy, and regulating temping agencies.

Dr Abela also said that AI is one of the best tools that will help address the need for foreign workers and reduce population growth, while also talking about skilling Maltese workers to embrace technology.

Regarding ease of access to public procurement, the Prime Minister spoke about the National Business Wallet helping to simplify processes. Simplifying procedures will make public procurement more accessible for businesses, he said.

Mr Borg said that public procurement is being dominated by direct orders and that under a PN-led government, this would be the exception and not the rule.