MGA sheds light on marketing and tech deficit as 730 job vacancies remain
Regulator’s 2018 employment report confirms a lack of work experience as the main reason for failure to find suitable candidates
More than 700 jobs in Malta’s online gaming sector were left unfilled at the end of 2018 according to the latest skills gap report from the island’s regulator.
The study, conducted by the Malta Gaming Authority’s (MGA) information and research unit, revealed that 730 egaming vacancies remained as of 31 December 2018, down from 781 in 2017.
The highest number of unfilled positions were in marketing (273), while the second highest number of vacancies came in gambling’s technology sector (128).
A lack of work experience was given as the primary reason for failing to hire a candidate at 28%, while competition from other firms (27%) and a lack of qualifications (21%) were also key drivers.
As of June 2019, 69% of all employees in the online gaming industry were non-Maltese, after the share of foreign employees decreased by nearly 2% year-on-year.
Peter Spiteri, the MGA’s chief officer of finance and programme management, said: “Recent figures indicate that 69% of employees in the online gaming sector are non-Maltese, highlighting the need for expatriate workers to sustain the ever-increasing demand of the industry.
“Whilst acknowledging that significant milestones have been achieved through the establishment of the European Gaming Institute of Malta as well as Gaming Malta’s Student Placement Programme initiative, the study indicates that there is significant potential for the local educational system to contribute in addressing the continuous thirst of the industry for a skilled workforce,” he added.
The results of the MGA survey reflect the aggregates and averages of replies received from 238 individual respondents from a fleet of Malta-based egaming firms.
According to the MGA, Malta’s online gambling sector accounted for more than 13% of the country’s total economy as of H1 2019, employing more than 7,000 people in full-time roles on the island.
Affiliate firm Raketech confirmed to EGR Intel this week that it was hiring a new Malta-based communications manager to be “fully available at HQ and not as a remote resource”.