Labour market situation and employment services in Estonia

Pille LiimalEstonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

2 September 2011

Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund● ...is an independent public body - tripartite management (social partners and government)

● Founded in 2001 to administer unemployment insurance ● Since 1 May 2009 also in the role of PES- merged management of benefit & employment services to improve the

access, quality and effectiveness of services- increased resources, flexibility and administrative capacity - shared responsibility with social partners● Central office and 15 regional offices (ca 500 employees)

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Benefits Employment Servicesinsurance benefits job mediation and matchingunemployment insurance benefit job search assistance servicesredundancy benefit career information&guidance insolvency benefit training, apprentices unemployment allowance business start-up subsidies wage subsidies disability employment services voluntary work work exercise, individual job placement psychological, debt and addiction counselling

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Financing Model● UI contributions paid by employees and employers

(currently the rates are 2.8% and 1,4% )● Government allocations (general tax, ESF)● EURES

● Active employment measures- ESF co-funded programme Increasing the Qualified Labour Supply- 2012 … Employment Programme funded from UI contributions

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Unemployment trends

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Registered unemployment and long-term unemployment

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000

60 000

70 000

80 000

90 000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Number of registered unemployed

Share of registered unemployed with unemployment period of at least 12 months

First steps in the PES role● Our job is to help people back to work - priority was given to employers – they are solution, not problem!- building up job mediation and job assistance services- designing measures to meet the needs of the clients

● Better access, quality and results of services- increase in staff numbers - information desks and national call centre- two-level client service – job-mediation&case management

● Simplification of procedures: less papers and manual work● Monitoring and measuring performance

Priorities in 2010● From training first towards work first approach● More intensive job mediation and job search assistance- rapid response to redundancies, career information desks,

job search workshops and job clubs, mobile counselling

● Reaching out to employers, supporting job creation, recruitement and employment

- business grants, just-in-time training, apprentices, wage subsidies

● Building up employment services information system (EMPIS)- cross-use of data, automatic matching, generating decisions and

contracts to be signed digitally and automatically sent via e-mail

… and 2011● Fewer unemployed but they need more help- training, apprentices, voluntary work- first partnerships with municipalities - training advisers: counselling, work-focussed interviewing,

case management skills

● PES virtual office launched in January 2011- priority was given to job mediation but new e-services are being introduced

in the self-service portal step by step (i.e job search diary from 1 May to report to PES online)

Increased number and share of vacancies mediated by the PES

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0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Num

ber o

f ent

ries Other measures

Wage subsidy

Job search training

Career counselling

Coaching for working life

Work practice

Work related training

Business start up subsidy

Increased inflow to ALMPs

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Looking into 2012-2013• Prevention and minimising duration of unemployment- support moving from work to work- help new unemployed back to work in 100 days

• Helping long-term unemployed back to work- more individual help to overcome employment barriers

Thank you!www.tootukassa.ee

pille.liimal@tootukassa.ee