The debate on the inclusion of foreign labour in the Estonian labour market should shift the focus from the question “should we?”. “on what principles?” bringing workers here. Labour migration policy needs to establish coherent and clear principles, with short- and long-term objectives, write OSKA analysts Silja Lassur, Andres Viia and Yngve Rosenblad.
The Confederation of Estonian Employers has collected nearly 170 suggestions on how to reduce the administrative burden and bureaucracy that hampers business. The 12 proposals with the broadest impact and quickest implementation are now in the Government's Economic Cabinet and could be approved as early as this spring.
“Today, we are at a stage where quality immigration would raise the wages of Estonians,” stresses Risto Mäeots, head of Magnetic MRO, an aircraft maintenance company. The company, which provides a high value-added service, would like to grow strongly and employ several dozen people, but there are no employees.
The Confederation of Finnish Employers has collected 170 proposals to cut unnecessary red tape and today submitted a summary to the Chancellery and the Prime Minister's Growth Council. Of these, the 12 proposals with the greatest impact and the quickest to be resolved could reach the Cabinet of Ministers' Economic Cabinet for action as early as May.
Although recruiting from abroad is more complicated, time-consuming and expensive than recruiting from Estonia, employers have to do it for different reasons. Risto Mäeots, Head of Magnetic MRO, Erkki Keldo, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry, and Ain Käpp, Head of the Labour Market Working Group of the Confederation of Estonian Employers, take part in the programme.
"My passion is hospitality, a field in which I have been active for 30 years. Working in hotels every day has given me a deep understanding of the importance of the workforce - both finding talent and retaining and developing it," says Ain Käpp, head of the Employers' Confederation's labour market working group and council member.
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.
Although the last quarter of the year surprised businesses and analysts with economic growth, businesses are cautious about counting out new growth from it. Before that can happen, confidence needs to be restored among businesses and individuals.
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.
The lingering economic downturn has dulled the pain of the labour shortage crisis, but it has not taken away its cause, explains Ain Käpp, head of the Confederation of Employers' Labour Market Working Group. That's why every step that brings more workers into the labour market is important.
Making labour law more flexible and modernising the recruitment of foreign workers are indispensable steps to help attract new people to the labour market, explains Ain Käpp, head of the Central Confederation of Employers' labour market working group and member of the council, on ERR's opinion pages. In addition, a more flexible law will increase the rights of part-time workers.
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.