Vertical Mismatch

In-nuqqas ta’ qbil vertikali, magħruf ukoll bħala nuqqas ta’ qbil fil-livell ta’ edukazzjoni, iseħħ meta l-livell ta’ edukazzjoni tal-persuna fl-impjieg ma jikkorrispondix mal-livell ta’ edukazzjoni meħtieġ biex wieħed iwettaq ix-xogħol tiegħu (International Labour Office, 2018). Għalhekk, persuna tista' tkun:

• Kwalifikat/a żżejjed meta l-livell ta’ edukazzjoni u taħriġ tiegħu/tagħha fl-impjieg ikun ogħla minn dak meħtieġ biex wieħed iwettaq ix-xogħol tiegħu.
• Kwalifikat/a inqas meta l-livell ta’ edukazzjoni u taħriġ tiegħu/tagħha fl-impjieg ikun aktar baxx minn dak meħtieġ biex wieħed iwettaq ix-xogħol tiegħu (Eurostat, 2021).

There may be several reasons for vertical skills mismatch.  Generally, if no suitable employee is available to hire at the time of an existing vacancy, the employer settles for a person who is under-educated, or the person who is hired settles for the position despite being over-educated (Kriechel & Vetter, 2019).

Figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicated that more than half of the employed population in Malta (54.3 per cent) experienced a vertical mismatch. The majority of these workers were over-educated for their job (35.1 per cent), while a further 19.3 per cent were under-educated.

Chart 1. Level of education mismatch in Malta

Diskrepanza vertikali skont is-sess, l-età u ċ-ċittadinanza

In 2021 females tended to be more over-educated (39.9 per cent) when compared to their male counterparts (31.7 per cent). The Chart below illustrates the level of education mismatch by sex.

Chart 2: Level of education mismatch by sex

The proportion of persons over-educated for their job decreases with age. In fact, 39.2 per cent of persons between 15 and 34 years were over-educated, decreasing to 36.0 per cent of persons between 35 and 54 years and 20.3 per cent of persons who were 55 years and over. This is illustrated in chart 3.

Chart 3. Level of education mismatch by sex and age group

 Differences in vertical mismatch were also seen between Maltese and foreign workers.  Foreign workers were more likely to be over-educated for their job (43.4 per cent) when compared to Maltese workers (32.0 per cent).

Grafika 4a. Livell ta’ diskrepanza edukattiva għall-Maltin

Grafika 4a. Livell ta’ diskrepanza edukattiva għall-immigranti

Diskrepanza vertikali skont il-karatteristiċi tal-impjieg

Level of education mismatch tended to be more prevalent in certain occupation groups and economic activities.

Service and sales workers (59.7 per cent) and craft and related trade workers (36.8 per cent) had a higher share of over-educated workers (39.0 per cent). Conversely, managers (54.4 per cent) and professionals (27.8 per cent) were more likely to be under-educated for their job.

Grafika 5a. Livell ta' diskrepanza fl-edukazzjoni skont ix-xogħol fl-impjieg prinċipali

Grafika 5b. Livell ta' diskrepanza fl-edukazzjoni skond ix-xogħol fl-impjieg prinċipali

The highest share of persons who were over-educated in their job worked in public administration, defence, education, human health, and social work activities (41.4 per cent) followed by the other services sector (37.7 per cent).

On the other hand, persons who worked in information and communication (25.4 per cent) and in manufacturing, mining and quarrying and other industry (22.9 per cent) had higher shares of workers who were under-educated for the job.

Grafika 6a. Livell ta' diskrepanza fl-edukazzjoni skont l-attività ekonomika fl-impjieg ewlieni

Grafika 6a. Livell ta' diskrepanza fl-edukazzjoni skont l-attività ekonomika fl-impjieg ewlieni

Rata ta’ kwalifika ogħla f’Malta 2021

Over-qualified workers are defined as employed persons who have attained tertiary education and who work in occupations for which this level of education is not required. The over-qualification rate in Malta has increased over the years, from 12.4 per cent in 2012 to 20.2 per cent in 2021.

(b) break in time series

The over-qualification rate of females was 10.3 percentage points higher than their male counterparts, thus implying that more females with a tertiary qualification were working in occupations where this level of education was not required.

A difference was also evident between Maltese and foreign workers, where the share of foreign workers who were over-qualified for their job was  19.6 percentage points higher than their Maltese counterparts (33.4 per cent  and13.4 per cent respectively).

Rata ta' kwalifika żejda madwar is-27 pajjiż tal-UE (2020)

Fl-2020, ir-rata ta’ kwalifika żejda għal Malta kienet ta’ 17.4 fil-mija, 4.1 punti perċentwali inqas mill-medja tal-UE-27, u b’hekk ikklassifikat fl-14-il post^th out of all European countries. The lowest rate was recorded in Luxembourg (3.9 per cent) followed by Denmark and Croatia (13.4 per cent). The highest rate was recorded in Spain (35.8 per cent) followed by Cyprus (33.2 per cent) and Greece (30.2 per cent).

Chart 8. Over-qualification rate across European countries: 2020

References:

Eurostat. (2021). Skills mismatch experimental indicators: Methodological note. Luxembourg: Eurostat. Retrieved 2022, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-statistics/skills

International Labour Office. (2018). Measurement of qualifications and skills mismatches of persons in employment. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Kriechel , B., & Vetter, T. (2019). Skills mismatch measurement in ETF partner countries. Turin, Italy: European Training Foundation. doi:10.2816/664496