The impact of foreign workers on productivity : employers’ perspectives of Maltese firms

Abstract

Over the years, significant changes in the demographics of foreign workers in the Maltese labour market have been recorded. The focal point of the majority of studies into the effects of foreign workers on the Maltese economy is on aggregate impacts on the labour market or economic output. How foreign workers impact the productivity of the individual firms they work for has not been examined. This qualitative research aims to address that gap by interviewing sixteen Maltese firms from across several sectors who employ foreign workers. The overall view of firms interviewed was that foreign workers impacted positively firms’ productivity. Overall, the extent of the impact of both the high and low-skilled foreign workers on productivity varied respectively with skills, knowledge sharing, innovation, integration and international connections being the most significant to firms. Meanwhile, impacts relating to training were low. The most striking impacts were generally interlinked, particularly where foreign workers held higher-skilled roles.