The data provided in this news release is derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) ad hoc module carried out during 2022 and partly financed through EU grants1. The LFS is a household-based survey and is used as a monitoring tool across the European Union for assessing progress made in various spheres of labour market and social statistics.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1642 made up the legal framework for the collection of data on job skills. The module provided an overview of work-related skills and their respective time allocations. Various aspects were explored such as engagement in physically demanding tasks, tasks involving finger dexterity, performing relatively complex calculations, and reading work-related documents. The aim of this module was to analyse the job tasks of all persons in employment or of those who were in employment in the preceding 24 months. It also focused on providing comparable information and on outlining jobs that are at risk of automation.
The information in this release, which focuses only on persons who were employed at the time of the interview, covers a variety of work-related tasks and working methods. The target population comprised employed persons aged 15 to 74 years living in private households (Table 1).
1 The source of the figures in this news release is the Labour Force Survey, therefore results from the Malta Skills Survey 2022 are not included in the tables.
Section A: Job-related tasks
Working time spent on digital tasks
This module covered the proportion of time spent by employed persons using digital devices for work purposes in their main job. This comprises the use of computers, tablets and smartphones for work-related tasks. The largest share of employed persons who used digital technologies during at least half of their working time was recorded in Sweden (60.7 per cent) and Luxembourg (60.6 per cent). Malta ranked sixth among the 27 EU Member States with the highest percentage of persons using such devices at work, with a share of 49.6 per cent of the employed population. The countries with the lowest shares were Romania (20.5 per cent) and Bulgaria (22.5 per cent) (Chart 1).
Chart 1. Share of employed persons who spent at least half of their working time using digital devices across the EU
No Data Found
Source: Eurostat (ad hoc extraction EU-LFS module 2022).
Results showed that females tend to spend more of their working time on digital tasks. In fact, 57.2 per cent of females spent at least half of their working time on such tasks when compared to 44.1 per cent of their male counterparts (Chart 2, Table 2).
Chart 2. Share of time spent working on digital devices by sex
Males
No Data Found
Females
No Data Found
Different trends in working time dedicated to digital tasks were observed across different age groups. A larger share of persons in the younger age cohort, which is defined as those between 15 and 34 years old, spent more than half of their working time on digital tasks. The share dropped to 47.0 per cent and 38.1 per cent for the 35 to 54 and 55 to 74 year age groups, respectively (Table 2).
The share of time spent working on digital devices increased in parallel with one’s highest level of education. In fact, 18.9 per cent of persons with a secondary level of education reported spending more than half of their time working on digital devices. The share is 54.5 percentage points lower when compared to persons with a tertiary education background (Table 2).
Time spent on digital tasks varied by professional status, with such tasks being more prevalent among employees (52.6 per cent) as opposed to self-employed persons (32.9 per cent) (Table 2). The majority of Managers (86.4 per cent), Clerical support workers (81.5 per cent) and Professionals (78.0 per cent) spent at least half of their working time using digital devices. Elementary occupations (93.2 per cent), Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers (90.6 per cent) and Craft and related trades workers (81.8 per cent) were the occupational groups that spent the least time on digital tasks (Table 2).
Working time spent on cognitive tasks
Cognitive tasks were measured according to the time spent reading work-related documents and performing complex calculations at work. LFS results indicated that, in Malta, one in every five workers spent at least half of their working time reading work-related manuals and technical documents. This share was 5.5 percentage points higher when compared to the EU 27 average (Chart 3). Meanwhile, less than one fifth of the employed population spent at least half of their working time on tasks which required the manipulation and transformation of numeric information (18.4 per cent). The share for Malta was 8.2 percentage points higher when compared to the EU 27 average of 10.2 per cent (Chart 3).
Chart 3. Share of working time spent on reading and on performing complex calculations tasks: Malta and EU 27
Source: Eurostat (ad hoc extraction EU-LFS module 2022).
The share of employed persons who spent less time on cognitive tasks decreased with age. In fact, among the younger cohort (15 to 34 years) 24.9 per cent spent at least half of their working time on reading tasks whereas 20.8 per cent spent at least half of their working time on calculating tasks. The share was lower for those between 55 and 74 years, with only 16.4 per cent and 14.1 reporting at least half of their working time on reading and calculating tasks, respectively (Tables 3 and 4).
Results from the LFS also indicated a link between the highest level of education and the time the employed spent on reading and calculating tasks. Cognitive tasks were more common among those with a tertiary level of education. In fact, 35.1 per cent and 28.1 per cent of tertiary educated persons spent at least half of their working time on reading and calculating tasks, respectively. Meanwhile, less than 10 per cent of those with a secondary level of education or less allocated similar working time for these tasks.
Working time spent on manual tasks
Manual tasks were measured according to the time spent on tasks involving finger dexterity and hard physical work. Physical tasks entail intense muscular power and refer to activities such as lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying objects or assuming tiring positions. Almost one fourth of the employed population spent at least half of their working time engaging in physical work (24.1 per cent), 3.3 percentage points lower than the EU 27 average (Chart 4).
Dexterity involves the synchronisation of hands and fingers with the eyes. More than 75 per cent of employed persons spent little to none of their working time carrying out tasks which required finger dexterity. This was 2.3 percentage points higher when compared with the EU 27 average (Chart 4).
Chart 4. Share of working time spent on physical and dexterous tasks: Malta and EU 27
Source: Eurostat (ad hoc extraction EU-LFS module 2022).
Males were more likely to spend time on tasks requiring hard physical work. In fact, 30.1 per cent of all males spent more than half of their working time doing physical work. This share was double that for females (15.9 per cent) (Table 5).
A larger share of self-employed persons performed at least half of their working time on manual tasks when compared to their employee counterparts. This was evident for both physical and dexterous work where the share of self-employed persons was 14.8 and 13.9 percentage points higher, respectively (Tables 5 and 6).
Among the employed, those working in Craft and related trades, and Elementary occupations, spent more time on physical tasks when compared to other occupation groups (Table 5). The same pattern was observed in relation to tasks requiring dexterity. In this regard such tasks were more common among Craft and related trades workers (59.5 per cent), Plant, machine operators and assemblers (23.3 per cent) and Technicians and associate professionals (22.0 per cent) (Table 6).
Working time spent on social tasks
Social tasks were measured through the time one spent interacting with other people for work purposes via verbal communication. Interaction can occur with persons from the same company as well as with persons from outside the organisation like clients, customers, patients or students. Overall, two thirds of the working population in Malta spent at least half of their working time communicating with other persons from the same company (Table 7). Meanwhile, the share of persons who spent at least half of their working time interacting with persons from outside the organisation was significantly lower (55.4 per cent) (Table 8).
The majority of persons employed as Managers (81.5 per cent), Clerical support workers (76.6 per cent) and Professionals (71.3 per cent) spent at least half of their working time communicating with people from inside the organisation. The share was much lower among those employed in Elementary occupations and as Plant and machine operators, and assemblers (53.2 per cent and 53.3 per cent respectively) (Chart 5).
Chart 5.Share of working time spent on internal communication by main occupation
No Data Found
Note: The categories Armed forces and Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers were excluded from the table due to low sample counts.
Almost 75 per cent of all persons employed as Service and sales workers reported spending at least half of their working time interacting with people from outside the company. The lowest shares were among persons employed in Elementary occupations and as Plant and machine operators, and assemblers with 52.7 per cent and 54.5 per cent respectively (Chart 6).
Chart 6. Share of working time spent on external communication by main occupation
No Data Found
Note: The categories Armed forces and Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers were excluded from the table due to low sample counts.
Working time spent on giving advice, training or teaching other people
Almost a third of all employed persons spent at least half of their working time giving advice, training or teaching other people. This share was higher for females when compared to males with 34.1 per cent and 27.2 per cent respectively (Table 9). No differences were observed when comparing levels for different age groups.
Time spent on such tasks increased with one’s level of education with four out of every ten persons with a tertiary level of education dedicating at least half of their working time on tasks related to guidance. The share was much lower for those with a post-secondary and a secondary level of education or less (28.8 per cent and 18.4 per cent respectively) (Table 9).
LFS estimates showed that persons employed as Professionals (46.5 per cent), Managers (40.1 per cent) and Service and sales workers (30.6 per cent) were more likely to spend at least half of their working time on guidance-related tasks. On the contrary, the majority of Elementary workers and Plant and machine operators, and assemblers spent little to no time teaching, training or guiding other persons (84.7 per cent and 78.4 per cent respectively) (Table 9).
Section B: Methods of work
Degree of autonomy on job-related tasks
This variable measures the extent to which an employed person can influence the way work is carried out. It covers the two dimensions of influence; the order and the content of tasks. Persons who have autonomy on their tasks have a certain freedom to decide on how to fulfil their tasks in terms of the required methods, tools or information sources used. In Malta, 39.3 per cent of the employed population felt that they had some autonomy while 34.7 per cent had a large or very large degree of autonomy in terms of order and content (Table 10).
One’s influence on the order and content of work increased with age. In fact, LFS results indicate that 29.6 per cent of persons between 15 and 34 reported a large or very large degree of influence on their work. The share increased by 7.9 percentage points among those between 35 and 54 years and a further 10.0 percentage points among those who were 55 years and over (Table 10).
Autonomy increases with the hierarchy of occupations with a larger degree of job autonomy reported among persons employed as Managers (51.2 per cent), Professionals (40.4 per cent) and Technicians and associate professionals (38.7 per cent) (Table 10).
Professional status also seems to have a bearing on the level of autonomy among the employed. In this regard higher levels of job autonomy were perceived among self-employed persons where almost six in every 10 persons attributed as having a very large or large degree of job autonomy at work (Chart 7). The share was double that of employees (30.2 per cent) (Table 10).
Chart 7. Degree of autonomy on tasks for self-employed persons
No Data Found
Repetitiveness in job-related tasks
Repetitive work refers to tasks which are implemented frequently without any variation, change or adaptation. In 2022, more than half of the working population performed repetitive tasks to a large or very large extent (51.5 per cent). A further 31.5 per cent carried out repetitive tasks to some extent while less than 20 per cent of the working population felt that their tasks were not repetitive (17.0 per cent) (Table 11).
The extent of repetition in one’s work is related to the level of education attained by the employed population. Among those with a tertiary level of education, 23.9 per cent reported little or no repetitiveness in their work. Meanwhile six in every ten persons with a secondary level of education reported highly repetitive tasks (Chart 8).
Chart 8. Degree of tasks' repetitiveness by highest level of education
No Data Found
Repetition in one’s tasks varied by occupation. The majority of persons employed as Plant, machine operators and assemblers (75.8 per cent), Elementary workers (74.6 per cent) and Clerical support workers (64.3 per cent) felt that their tasks at work were repetitive to a large or very large extent (Chart 14). Meanwhile, more than one fourth of all persons employed as Managers and Professionals felt that their tasks were not repetitive or that repetition was to a little extent (25.7 per cent and 25.9 per cent respectively) (Table 11).
Standardisation
Standardisation of tasks refers to the extent to which a person must follow strictly defined procedures in order to accomplish work tasks. Strict procedures are rules specifying the timing and order of actions, the method to be used to perform a task and the use and communication of its results. Almost half of all employed persons in Malta performed procedural tasks to a large or very large extent. Procedures were more prevalent among certain occupation groups. In fact, the majority of Technicians and associate professionals (57.4 per cent), Plant and machine operators, and assemblers (55.6 per cent) and Clerical support workers (51.8 per cent) followed strictly defined procedures to a very large or large extent (Table 12).
Additional Tables and Charts
Methodological Notes
1. The data provided in this release is based on the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1642 specifying the technical characteristics of the 2022 ad hoc subject ‘job skills’ and the eight- yearly variables on ‘pension and labour market participation’ in the labour force domain in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The data was partly financed through EU grants.
2. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is carried out on an ongoing basis using a quarterly gross sample of 3,200 private households. The objective is to have a continuous assessment of labour market trends given that the reference weeks are evenly spread throughout the 13 weeks of the quarter. One-fourth of the sample is made up of households who have been selected to participate in the LFS for the first time. Three-fourths of the quarterly sample is made up of households who were selected to participate in the survey in previous instances, either one quarter before, or one year before, or one year and a quarter before (2-(2)-2). Unless otherwise indicated, figures provided in this release refer to persons aged 15 and over and living in private households during the reference period. All criteria used for this survey match international methodologies used by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
3. The LFS is designed to satisfy the concepts and definitions as outlined by Eurostat. This allows the comparability of results with other EU member states and countries following ILO definitions of employment and unemployment. Occupations are classified according to the ISCO-08 classification (International Standard Classification of Occupations) whereas the economic activity is classified according to NACE Rev. 2 (Nomenclature générale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes). Education attainment is classified according to ISCED 2011.
4. During 2022, the ad hoc module was carried out on a sample of persons taking part in the LFS survey for the first and fourth time.
● Dexterity: refers to fine motor skills requiring the co-ordination of small muscles in movements, usually involving the synchronisation of hands and fingers with the eyes. Such tasks require the skilful use of fingers, that is the ability to make precise coordinated movements in order to grasp, manipulate or assemble objects.
- In Malta, almost half of the employed population spent the majority of their working time using digital technologies.
- The highest level of education infers on the working time spent on reading and calculating tasks, with a prevalence of persons with a tertiary level of education dedicating the majority of their time on such tasks.
- One in every four workers spent at least half of their working time undertaking physical work.
- Nearly 70 per cent of the working population spent at least half of their working time communicating with other persons from the same company.
- A larger degree of job autonomy was reported among persons employed as Managers (51.2 per cent) and Professionals (40.4 per cent).
The implementation of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2022 ad hoc module on Job Skills was partially funded by the European Union.
