In the debate on health care financing, we have regrettably not talked much about the fact that health care, or healthy people, is an integral part of Estonia's competitiveness.
Empowering people in industrial relations is not about scaring and misleading them about change, but about informing them about their rights and opportunities and raising awareness.
The Estonian Employers' Confederation's business meeting on 24 April focused on one of the most important issues facing both business and government today: how to increase social confidence in an era where geopolitical tensions, information warfare and international economic instability are affecting people's moods and business decisions.
If foreign workers are necessary for business and society, we need to organise labour migration in such a way that people with the necessary skills and the right cultural background are accepted, explains Ain Käpp, a member of the council of the Estonian Employers' Confederation and head of the labour market working group.
Neither Europe nor Estonia has the money or the capacity to continue with the current social policies, to deal with defence capacity building and to implement a largely politically driven green turnaround. We have to choose one from here, stressed entrepreneurs at the Employers' Economic Conference "Windward Flight 2025". Without a strong economy, there is no defence.
The Confederation of Estonian Employers, which represents the largest employers, stresses that we need foreign workers to help us cope with an ageing society and a shrinking working-age population. Every foreign worker who pays taxes helps to pay the salaries of teachers and doctors and to finance the defence of the country.
Looking ahead over the next decade, the Estonian labour market will be short of around 1,400 top specialists and 700 skilled workers every year, and the need for them cannot be met by Estonian graduates. The involvement of some foreign labour is inevitable, according to a recent OSKA study.
If businesses are responsible for economic growth, the state is responsible for creating a competitive economic area. Estonia's economic policy should aim to place the country among the advanced economies, says Ain Hanschmidt, head of the Employers' Confederation.
The Confederation of Estonian Employers welcomes the new coalition's plan to focus on economic development and security. Cooperation between the state and businesses will turn the economy from recession to growth, which will increase the competitiveness of the economic area.