Ministry of Finance has stated that the number of people under employment has increased compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government's fiscal strategy statement submitted to the Parliament of the Maldives on behalf of the finance ministry looks at the post-COVID-19 improvements in the labour market in the Maldives. The fiscal strategy statement said that there is no arrangement to provide regular annual statistics on the total number of individuals employed and the number of individuals in need of employment. Therefore, it is difficult to fully understand the impact of an economic shock or increase in economic productivity in the Maldives.
According to the finance ministry, the number of employees registered with the Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) is currently available as a statistic indicating the growth of the labour market. However, the statistics of the office mainly include official employees. Therefore, the statistics of the office do not reflect the changes in the labour market of foreigners, self-employed workers and those working in the informal sector.
The fiscal strategy states that the labour market has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. The number of employees registered with the MPAO has decreased significantly by 2020. In 2021, when the delta variant of the virus was spreading most rapidly, the number of employees declined in July 2021 due to measures taken to prevent the further spread of the disease.
The finance ministry said that the outbreak has since been contained and a large portion of the population has been vaccinated, the economic slowdown has begun to recover and productivity in many sectors of the economy has begun to increase by the end of 2021. The number of employees registered with the MPAO in November and December 2021 was higher than the number of employees in 2019.
Based on the direction in which the tourism sector is growing, the finance ministry said that the figure is expected to be higher than in other months of 2019. Around 40% of the employees registered with the Pension Office are in the public sector and employees in the sector have increased in 2020. However, by 2022, the largest increase will be in the public sector or non-tourism sectors.
The government is working hard to create job opportunities. The government's National Apprenticeship Programme has also helped a large number of young people enter the job market with training. The government has also provided substantial assistance to those who lost their jobs during the pandemic.