The Malta Salary & Tax Calculator

💸 THE FUTURE OF MALTESE EMPLOYMENT

✅ The Malta Chamber emphasises the need for a shift towards prioritising productivity in the economy in its newly announced priority proposals.
→ It suggests capping the number of third-country nationals (TCNs) under the guise of value-added ...employment.
→ It further proposes that a work permit should be extendable for three years if educational and skill requirements are met after an initial successful year of employment.
→ Additionally, a tax exemption is recommended to encourage highly qualified Maltese individuals currently living and working abroad to return to the workforce.
→ These adaptations aim to address staffing shortages with a new workforce strategy by investing in skilled labour and sustainable practices to improve the quality of employment in Malta.

✅ Furthermore, there is a call for a transformation of workplace pensions.
→ There should be a rise in the adoption of supplementary pensions, and it is recommended to implement auto-enrollment with an opt-out option.
→ Contributing employers should receive more attractive tax incentives compared to what is currently provided.

✅ It is recommended that outsourcing and temping agencies be regularly monitored to ensure that the new proposals do not classify them as permanent employers.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/cap-tcns-incentive-maltese-return-home-chamber-budget-proposals.1097243

💸 MALTESE GRADUATES AT THE TOP

✅ Close to 96% of all Maltese graduates are able to find a job within three years of finishing their studies, ranking number one in Europe.
→ Since the year 2000, the Maltese rankings have always been high.
→ Though during the years 2021 and ...2022 the numbers showed a significant drop due to COVID-19, not only affecting Malta's, but also Europe's ratings.
→ In 2023, a bounce back took place with an all-time high rating of 95.8%, which is more than 12% higher than the European average.
→ This makes Malta the only Southern European or Mediterranean country to register above the EU average.

✅ More than 96% of graduates with tertiary education find a job within three years, and 90% of graduates with non-tertiary education do.
→ As Malta's employment rates are high, these numbers are not unsuspected.
→ Though these results do not give insights into what jobs these graduates land, it is unsure if they find a job that matches their skills.

✅ Even though the graduate employment numbers are high, a lot of individuals do not stay in school.
→ One in ten Maltese 18-to-24 year-olds leave school early, achieving fewer than two O-Levels.
→ These numbers decreased at least 11% since 2010, though they still are above the EU average.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/maltese-graduates-top-eu-employment-rate-ranking.1097012

💸 EMPLOYMENT TRENDS IN MARCH 2024

✅ Registered full-time employment grew by 6.2% in March 2024 compared to March of last year.
→ The activities that increased the most in full-time employment were the administrative and support services and the accommodation and food ...services.
→ The private sector climbed by 15.895 people to 233.375, while the public sector grew by 869 individuals to 51.857.
→ Self-employment increased by 784 compared to March 2023.
→ Individuals registered as employees rose by 15.980.
→ Men's full-time employment went up by 6.2%, while women's climbed with 6.3%.

✅ The climb in registered full-time employment and registered unemployment attributed to the labour supply increasing by 6.3%.

✅ Registered part-time employment grew by 7% in March 2024 compared to March of last year.
→ Professional, scientific, and technical activities and administrative and support services were the biggest contributors to the increase.
→ Individuals who held both a part-time and a full-time job increased by 8.9%.
→ Part-time employment functioning as the primary job rose by 4.8%.

Read the Article! 👇
https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2024-08-22/local-news/Full-time-employment-up-6-2-in-March-NSO-says-6736263649

💸 NEW APPROACH TO THE GROWING SKILLS GAP

✅ The benefits and challenges of introducing skills cards for workers in Malta will be evaluated via a study from the National Skills Council.
→ The cards will highlight information on individual skills, qualifications, technical ...expertise, transversal skills, and other relevant competencies of workers in various sectors and industries in Malta.
→ The study will rank which industries will need to acquire and derive the most benefits from the skills cards, though the study will exclude the construction and hospitality industries.

✅ Skills cards have been introduced in the previous years in several forms.
→ In 2016, the Building and Construction Authority was introduced to the skills cards, but to this date, they have only been implemented as health and safety cards.
→ In 2023, the skill 'pass' was introduced to the hospitality industry.
→ In 2024, the Malta Tourism Authority will initiate skills cards, starting with non-EU nationals and expanding to local workers and EU nationals in 2025.

✅ Gaps in required skills started showing due to the rapid economic growth in Malta in recent years, as it led to an increasing demand for jobs.
→ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malta's labour market went through a massive change.
→ In 2021, the Maltese economy recovered, and industries were confronted with a shortage of skilled labour, which is when non-EU workers filled the shortcomings.
→ Now, around one-third (36%) of the Maltese workforce consists of EU and non-EU workers.

✅ Industries notice that the lack of skills in the labour market has affected the overall quality of service offered to clients.
→ The National Skills Council reports that even with a large number of workers coming to Malta, the deficiency in skills is critical for the highly diversified business environment.
→ A large amount of business sectors demand a wide range of skills, from fisheries to tourism.
→ In 2022, 75% of employers are concerned about the attraction of the right skills, based on an HR Pulse Survey.
→ A mismatch in skills was noticed by 54.3% of the working population, according to a National Statistics Office study.

✅ Hiring needs to be more uncompromising in regard to skills and requirements for both EU, non-EU, and Maltese workers, according to the NSC.

Read the Article! 👇
https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/130459/study_will_rank_maltese_businesses_requiring_skills_cards_the_most

💸 OVERSATURATED LABOUR MARKETS

✅ By creating a level playing field with enforcing fiscal obligations, cab companies that are unable to adhere to Malta's tax and employment legislation will be filtered out.
→ The government has decided to limit the number of non-EU nationals... coming to Malta for the food delivery and transport industries.
→ Jobsplus determines if work permit applications for work permits for non-EU nationals are acceptable or not.
→ The agency recommended the government to refuse new applicants, as, after evaluation, the labour market has reached its saturation point.
→ The refusals include those looking for a change in employers and those still abroad but exclude those asking for a renewal.

✅ These regulations are necessary to support the 'stability and continuity of employment', according to the Home Affairs Ministry.
→ Meanwhile, the Single Permit system: a combination of residence and work authorisation, is also undergoing a rigorous assessment process by Jobsplus according to the ministry.
→ Minister Byron Camilleri has said that employers who are under investigation for exploitation of their employees will not be permitted to recruit new applicants.
→ The government ought to protect its foreign workers from abuse as it protects its Maltese workers.

✅ Regulations have mentioned that non-EU nationals should only be able to obtain a work permit if their labour skills are needed in the industry and cannot be acquired on the domestic market.
→ Surveillance of the labour market ought to be continuous to be able to register and address saturation points to simplify planning for market operators.
→ The labour market cannot be left alone in a population-dense country, though the reins should not be too tight either to prevent higher consumer prices

Read the Article! 👇
https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/editorial/130501/cab_industry_for_a_fair_and_balanced_labour_market_curb_tax_evasion_as_well

💸 UNEMPLOYMENT RATES UP IN JUNE

✅ Although the amount of unemployment last June differentiated more than 2.000 people compared to June 2023, the unemployment rate hardly changed.
→ Unemployment in June of 2023 had a rating of 3%, with 7.820 unemployed people.
→ In June of ...2024, the unemployment rate was 3.1%, with 9.865 individuals being unemployed.
→ This rate was up in the previous month with a percentage of 3.2.

✅ Men and women had a difference in unemployment ratings.
→ In June of 2024, the unemployment rate for men stood at 3.6%, remaining stable when compared to May.
→ The percentage of female employment was at 2.4%, which is a decrease of 0.1 compared to the previous month.

✅ Unemployment for people aged 25 to 74 years decreased by 0.1% since May to 2.6% while youth unemployment increased to 8.4%.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/june-unemployment-rises-9865-7820-last-year.1096018

💸 OVERQUALIFIED NON-EU WORKERS

✅ A new Eurostat study reported that nearly half of non-EU workers in Malta felt overqualified in 2023.
→ There was an increase from 18.2% (2016) to 48.7% (2023) in overqualification, which is more than a 30% climb in a period of seven years.
...→ The current overqualification rate is 9.3% higher than the EU average of 39.4%.
→ While the Maltese numbers rose, the EU average of overqualified non-EU workers decreased by 5.8% during these same years.
→ Compared to non-EU workers in Malta, only 12.6% of Maltese workers reported being overqualified, while EU workers rate even less at 11.8%.

✅ Non-EU women show higher rates of overqualification in Malta than non-EU men.
→ 56.9% of women felt overqualified compared to 42% of male workers.
→ These ratings are also higher than the EU average, as 42.9% of female workers and 36.2% of male workers felt overqualified in the EU.

✅ Maltese young non-EU workers were more overqualified compared to the older workers.
→ Half (50.5%) of the younger non-EU workers (20-34) in Malta felt overqualified, whereas older non-EU workers (35-64) have a rate of 46.9% of over-qualification.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/almost-half-noneu-workers-malta-last-year-overqualified.1095937

💸 WORK PERMIT REFUSALS FOR TCN WORKERS

✅ Maltese government sources confirm that non-EU applicants applying for jobs such as cab drivers and food couriers are refused work permits by Identità.
→ Renewal applicants are getting their work permits accepted, but new applicants to ...the work field are being refused.

✅ Identità is telling its rejected applicants that there is no justified need for more cab drivers, such as for companies like Bolt, as there is no labour market shortage.
→ The majority of third-country nationals residing in Malta are obliged to have a work permit, which is valid for a year and tied to an employer.
→ As a cause of the rejections, refused applicants without a work permit or other authorisation to legally be allowed to stay in Malta, have been notified they may be violating the Immigration Act.
→ Prime Minister Robert Abela mentioned that only necessary workers will be allowed into the Maltese labour market.

✅ Home Affairs and Employment Minister Byron Camilleri notified the parliament that companies who are exploiting their workers will be barred from hiring workers until further investigation.
→ Camilleri mentioned that abusing and exploiting workers is unacceptable as the parliament believes in workers' rights.

✅ The government's policy change regarding the industries may lead to future damage and continuous refusals of work permits in the sectors could cause problems in the time to come due to a lack of labourers.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/hundreds-tcns-applying-cab-drivers-food-couriers-refused-identita.1095855

💸 AVERAGE SALARY REACHED €21.000 IN 2022

✅ The average salary in Malta rose to €20.989 before tax in 2022, according to new national statistics.
→ In 2017, the average salary stood at €18.207, suggesting that salaries have risen by €1.800 over the past eight years.
...→ Men were the highest earners, with an average wage of €22.096, which is about €2.400 more than what they earned eight years ago.
→ Women saw a faster salary increase, rising from just over €16.000 in 2017 to €19.605 in 2022, a gain of over €3.300.

✅ Men living in Malta's northern towns had significant salary increases.
→ Men from towns such as Mellieħa, Mosta, and Naxxar saw a rise from under €20.000 in 2020 to almost €24.000 two years later, making them the second-highest earners in the country.
→ However, the top spot still belongs to men from Malta’s western district, including Rabat, Siġġiewi, and Ħaż-Żebbuġ, who earn just under €25.000.
→ People in other regions, such as Gozo and several southern Maltese towns, have also experienced salary increases.

✅ Increased foreign workforce contributes to slower salary growth in specific regions.
→ Men in Malta's northern harbour towns, including Sliema, Gżira, and Msida, have experienced only a marginal wage increase, likely due to the influx of foreign workers.
→ Nearly 63.500 foreigners now reside in these towns, making up about half of Malta’s foreign population.

✅ This data does not include allowances, bonuses and overtime payments, which supplement salaries greatly.
→ Self-employed workers are also not included in this data.
→ The median salary is €1.600 per month (over €19.000 annually), meaning half the population earns less and the other half earns more.

✅ A recent Times of Malta report revealed that wages have risen by 26% since 2016, but only 6% in real terms after adjusting for inflation, with the gap between high and low earners widening.

Read the Article! 👇
https://timesofmalta.com/article/average-salary-malta-reached-21000-2022.1095763