Published on 30th November 2018 by Andrew Mills

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) the gambling regulator in the country, has identified skills gaps within the Malta’s booming iGaming industry.Releasing the results of a survey designed to isolate gaps that exist in the gaming industry in the country, the results show where there are issues.

Highlights

Talking points from the MGA’s survey include nearly 800 unfilled positions at Malta based remote gaming companies at the end of last year (2017).Out of those vacancies, most positions were within the game operation and development category, more on the operational side.Out of applicants for those jobs, 57% were refused due to the lack of relevant skills, be that qualifications or work experience.  60% of companies in the country sourced their talent from other Malta based firms, of which 37% were employed in iGaming jobs, and 24% were employed in other similar industries.The results also showed that 55% of firms offer in-house training, while 21% offer training overseas to try and fill the gaps.

What does it mean?

The results, alongside other initiatives in the country, have led to initiatives to try and increase the number of possible employees qualified for the relevant positions.The heart of these policies comes in the world of students, with local and overseas students being trained with the requisite skills for the jobs.The European Gaming Institute of Malta (EGIM) launched at the end of November after an agreement was struck up between the MGA and the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology.With the iGaming industry being one of the biggest and fastest growing in the world, and Malta being one of its hubs, it seems likely that this training will lead to many of these unfilled positions being taken up in the near future.