3. Facts about Estonia
Small country of 45 227 km2
Population - 1 294 236
Parliamentary republic since 1918
EU member since May 2004
Currency EURO since January 2011
Capital Tallinn – 600 000 inhabitants
3
4. Living in Estonia …
● Four seasons: cold winters, warm summers
● Extremes: -28 C and + 35 C
● Official language - Estonian
- easy to communicate in English on daily matters
● Neighbouring countries: Russia, Finland, Sweden
● Ethnic groups living in Estonia:
(Estonians 68,7%, Russians 24,8%, other 6,4% )
● Religions: Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic
● Active cultural scene
● Well-preserved nature, wildlife
5. Estonian Labour Market
• Population - 1 294 236 (Population Census, 2011)
• Tallinn and Harjumaa more than 600 thousands inhabitants
• Economically active population (labour force) - 656 400
• Number of employed persons - 635,2 thousand (2012 IIIQ)
• Number of unemployed - 38 479 (2012 III Q)
• Unemployment rate - 5,9 % (2012 III Q)
Source: Statistics Estonia
• Average gross monthly salary 900 Euro (2012 III Q)
• Minimum wage 290 EUR/month
• Surpluses: construction, elementary occupations
• Shortages: professionals (IT, engineers, medicine)
Eesti Töötukassa 5
6. Average monthly gross salaries, III Q 2012
Eesti Töötukassa
Source Statistics Estonia www.stat.ee 6
7. Situation on the labour market
160.000
140.000
120.000
NUMBER OF PEOPLE
100.000
80.000
60.000
40.000
20.000
0
I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV I II
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Number of unemployed (aged 15-74)
Registered unemployed (aged 16 - pension age)
Inflow of registered unemployed
Outflow of registered unemployed
Number of unemployed in Estonia (2012, II Q)
Source: Unemployment Insurance Fund
7
8. Craft and Elementary
Machine occupations
related
operators and 18%
trades Managers
assemblers
workers 8%
11%
18%
Professionals
7%
Technicians and
associate
professionals
Service and sales 9%
workers
17%
Skilled
agricultural, Clerical support
forestry and workers
fishery workers 10%
2%
Registered unemployed by previous occupation
(August 2012) 8
9. Reasons for hiring foreign work force
The main reason, why Estonian employers are interested in foreign work force, is labour
force shortage in specific regions (61%). The second reason is the low qualification of
Estonian employees in specific works or services (35%). Some employers assess the
Estonian work force to be too expensive (15%).
2005 2008 2011
Can’t find necessary/ 64
suitable work force from 51
Estonia 57
It was economically 35
profitable for the 13
enterprice 4
The person in question 21
offered himself/herself 28
for employment 4
17
Other 8
19
0 10 20 30 % 40 50 60 70
10. Positions to be filled by foreign labour force
2005 2008 2011
61
Specialist 38
39
27
Skilled worker 61
28
12
Unskilled worker 26
17
10
Manager 6
6
2
Other 3
0 10 20 30 % 40 50 60 70
Source: Survey “Demand for foreign labour force in Estonian companies, May 2011 10
11. Meeting on Opportunities for Spanish-Estonian Cooperation
on Employment in the IT sector, May 2012 Tallinn
Participants
• Ambassador of Spain
• Director, Office of the President
• Executive Board, Tehnopol www.tehnopol.ee
• Executive Board, Estonian Association of Information Technology and
Telecommunications www.itl.ee
• Political Officer, European Commission in Estonia
• Site leader, Skype Estonia
• EURES
Agenda included overview of cooperation between Spain and
other European countries in the field of employment:
-E.g. Permanent cooperation between EURES-Spain and EURES Germany
Possibilities to set up a similar scheme between Spain and Estonia
11
14. SKYPE recruitment needs
Number of positions: 105
positions worldwide and 19
positions in Tallinn.
During the first half of 2012,
Tallinn office grew by about 70
people, and we expect to grow
and add more during the next
12 months. People can be
placed in London, Prague,
Stockholm, Moscow, New
York, Tallinn or Luxembourg.
SKYPE also help with
relocation
http://www.microsoft-careers.com/content/skype/home/
http://www.microsoft-careers.com/content/skype/sneak-peek
14
15. Life at SKYPE
We're global thinkers with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Palo Alto,
Prague, Singapore, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tartu and Tokyo.
Our wonderful offices are relaxed, funky, innovative and dog friendly - we're more
like family around here. A super productive bunch, we are performance driven and
dedicated to unleashing wonder!
The living standards are very high; we have an overall very
good technological infrastructure, and a good business
environment.
15
17. EURES network in Estonia
Information about living
and working in Estonia
5 EURES advisers
www.eures.ee/kontakt
Skype consultations
on Fridays 12.00-15.00
eures.eesti
17
19. Searching for a job in Estonia
European Job Mobility portal eures.europa.eu
Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund
www.tootukassa.ee
Local job-search portals: www.cv.ee; www.cvkeskus.ee
Head hunter companies: www.areserv.ee; www.fontes.ee
Eesti Töötukassa 19
20. Working in Estonia
Temporary or permanent contracts:
(Employment Contracts Act
www.ti.ee)
=> 4 months probationary employment
Full time 40 hours per week:
salary paid once a month;
Employer deducts from the gross wages:
income tax (21%)
unemployment contribution (4,2%)
20
21. Estonia in web: useful links
The State portal of Estonia www.eesti.ee/eng/
Official gateway to Estonia http://estonia.eu/
http://www.visitestonia.com/en
Registration procedures:
Police and Border Guard Board www.politsei.ee
Ministry of the Interior www.siseministeerium.ee
Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.vm.ee
Social Insurance Board www.ensib.ee
Estonian Tax and Customs Board www.emta.ee
Estonian Health Insurance fund www.haigekassa.ee
Eesti Töötukassa 21
