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Karl Schembri
Government is trying so hard to curb public expenditure that it is expecting to recruit people to work for free.
St James Centre for Creativity is in fact living up to its name in creatively seeking to get free labour through hyped-up job vacancies.
The centre circulated a call for applications to fill vacancies of part-time ‘Assistant Programme Directors’ in cinema, visual arts, music, theatre and dance, calling for “energetic, proactive” candidates with “very good communication skills, deep knowledge of their areas as well as an awareness of the current thinking in the international field” to apply.
The post calls for candidates to be responsible for the creation and implementation of a “proactive policy” which aims to improve the standard of programming in each discipline, increase the participation of the various sectors of society through choice of programming and take part in the creation of innovative marketing techniques.
“They are to provide innovative exciting ideas which challenge the status quo and provide new stimulus for creativity,” the application states.
But much to the dismay of people who collected the application forms from St James, it transpires that selected applicants will be expected to work 10 hours weekly for six months for free. That is 260 free labour hours.
As if to make it clear that St James will not be paying any wages, the application states that those selected are expected “to increase revenue flows so that in due course it will be possible to make each post a full-time self-sustainable position.”
The General Manager at St James Cavalier, Chris Gatt, admitted that the advert was misleading.
“It was an oversight on my part,” he said when contacted. “It’s not a part-time vacancy…The idea is to open up St James for more input from different people, to increase attendances and therefore increase revenue.”
Gatt said the selected applicants will be given an honorarium “to cover their expenses.”
“I know government won’t give me finances to employ people but we have to survive and this is a way of going about it,” he said. “It will give people interested in cultural management a chance to work in the field…it could be students, pensioners, people who are not only interested in money. I’m telling people ‘create your job’.”
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