Filling the skills gap. An interview with Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Executive Chairman of the National Skills Council
FILLING THE SKILLS GAP
The recent launch of the National Skills Strategy is the latest phase in work which has been underway at the National Skills Council since it was launched 18 months ago. The Council’s CEO, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, is keen to get the Strategy underway – the first of its kind for Malta – but is very clear: it would not have been possible to get this far without considerable consultation with stakeholders.
“Since the Council was set up, we have had 300 high level meetings, with employers associations, unions, government entities, teaching institutions and even NGOs. We want everyone’s input as that is the only way to ensure that the National Skills Strategy is relevant and is taken on board by all involved,” he stressed.
The National Skills Strategy, which should be ready by the end of next year, will analyse the current situation and establish the priorities for a five-year period.
The Strategy project was one of 11 chosen out of 600 EU applicants for the EU’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) funding, receiving €750,000. It will be implemented with the help of OECD experts, who have already been involved in talks and research.
It will focus on various areas, from the Green Economy to digitalisation, but the pilot project will look at the maritime sector, working closely with Transport Malta.
“What we learn from this pilot project will be emulated and replicated across other sectors, including financial services,” he said.
The Council, previously an Advisory Body, has now been re-established as an executive one. It is already planning a number of different programmes and campaigns, including a campaign to raise the profile of blue-collar jobs, called Parity of Esteem.
“While academic qualifications are very important, we also need to get the message across that there are many career paths apart from the traditional professions. Furthermore, the world is changing and if we want to futureproof the economy, we need to understand the impact of artificial intelligence on future demand on some sectors, such as accountancy for example,” he said.
The Council will also be responsible for undertaking a feasibility study to assess which sectors would benefit from a skill card framework, extending it beyond construction and hospitality for which plans are already underway. It will leave the training to others but will be analysing the requirements for certain jobs and, once defined, will be responsible in conjunction with other stakeholders for the development of National Occupational Standards which form the basis of the skill cards frameworks.
Another issue close to Mr Pullicino Orlando’s heart is the importance of transversal skills, with particular emphasis on verbal and written communications, problem-solving skills, and team building ones.
“These skills are more important than ever before if you want to be future proof in a rapidly changing world. Even if you are an expert in IT, what you know today might be irrelevant next month…” he stressed, adding that these skills needed to be imbued from a young age.
“And there needs to be more focus on microcredentials, lifelong learning, upskilling, and reskilling.”
However, he was very concerned by some of the findings of the recent National Skills Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office, which found that 54% of workers are either over- or under-qualified for the job they are in. It also reported that only 40% of respondents felt that training was important.
“And most of these were already in the highly educated cohort. It should be the opposite: those who are less trained to start with are the ones who need more!” he said.
On the topic of migration, he also pointed out that Europe relies on this influx and expressed his surprise that there was “such an unreasonable degree of resistance to migration”.
“We should be looking at ways to regularise, based on more thorough labour and skills needs analysis, so that shortages are addressed, rather than to stop it. Migration has been happening since time immemorial and many countries were populated by emigrants in the past. It is now our turn here in Europe to start welcoming them,” he said.
One important point was the link between communication and the ability to do their jobs, which depends on a basic knowledge of the Maltese language, he said.
“We should insist that before they come over they receive basic Maltese language training. Even 100 words would help as they can build up proficiency once they are here. But it means, for example, that they can assist an old lady in their care who is asking for a glass of water in her native language, Maltese.”
He stressed that there were also pockets within our society that should be encouraged to join the workforce or to work longer, such as women and pensioners, acknowledging the significant return to the labour force registered by women since the free childcare policy.
“We have so many people with skills obtained through non-formal and informal learning and it would be a shame to lose all that experience,” he said, saying that validation of prior learning is critical to widen the talent pool and address labour shortages. And microcredentials are one way to expose people to further upskill and improve their skillset through training.
One of the other projects underway is a National Career Guidance Network.
“Some decisions in the past have been taken enthusiastically but – at times – rather reactively, even though they have such a long-term impact on a population. What we need is decision-making based on data and projections for the future, compiled in as comprehensive and consultative a way as possible,” he said.