Malta Outscores Cyprus on AI Skills, but Trading Firms Still Hire in Cyprus

The Ayre Index, a new ranking of Commonwealth members, places Malta second and Cyprus seventh in terms of youth readiness for artificial intelligence. The index evaluates seven pillars, including access to technology and the quality of work available to young people.

Malta scored 75.0 out of 100, while Cyprus scored 67.4. The widest gaps between the two nations were found in the categories of decent work and digital capability.

Official statistics from the European Commission for people aged 16 to 74 point to the same trend. In Malta, 66.8% of the population has at least basic digital skills, compared to 55.8% in Cyprus and an EU average of 60.4%.

Maltese enterprises are also more active users of AI, with 21.5% of companies adopting the technology, more than double the rate in Cyprus, which stands at 9.3%.

Cyprus still leads on job ads

Despite its superior digital skills, Cyprus remains the primary destination for hiring by online trading firms. On October 1, the island hosted 218 open roles, the highest number of any jurisdiction tracked by FM Intelligence.

The United States followed with 190 vacancies, and Singapore with 182. Malta did not make the top ten list of hiring hubs.

The number of open roles in Cyprus has decreased compared to the previous year. In the first quarter, Cyprus accounted for 22.8% of vacancies at the 50 largest brokers, a share that fell to 8.5% in the fourth quarter.

Several of the island's largest employers have reduced their hiring. XM cut its Cyprus job ads from 62 to 47, and Exness reduced its from 32 to 18.

The CySEC register held 1,966 active licenses on November 5, making it the fourth-largest of the 10 registers tracked by FM Intelligence.

AI skills become a hiring requirement

The demand for AI skills is growing among trading firms. Of 2,557 open roles at 77 brokers, crypto exchanges, and prop firms on October 1, 23% required AI skills, up from 19% in the previous quarter.

IronFX cut about 150 jobs in March to improve efficiency amid the wave of AI adoption, according to people familiar with the matter.

Some companies are splitting their operations. Equiti opened a technology hub in Bangalore in July, while Deriv added a second Cyprus office in Nicosia in 2024 to focus on AI and data roles.

Engineer pay below tax relief threshold

FinTop Consulting estimates that MT5 and cTrader platform engineers in Cyprus earn between $39,000 and almost $65,000 a year.

Most of this salary range falls short of the threshold for the island's largest income tax relief for newcomers, potentially influencing the cost of hiring in the region.