Estonia Plans to Double Foreign Worker Quota as Trade Unions Warn of Cheap Labour Influx
Estonia plans to bring in foreign workers next year in numbers double the current immigration quota. Trade unions argue that lower salary requirements will lead to an influx of cheap labour.
Estonia, a Baltic country with a shrinking population, intends to widen its options for hiring foreign workers next year. The current immigration quota is 0.1% of the population, or 1,284 people. Estonia's Ministry of the Interior proposes raising it by a further 0.2% amid economic growth. The new rules would cover 12 sectors in industry, transport and warehousing. The state says this would help ease a shortage of skilled staff, but trade unions warn of the consequences.
The state's rationale
Sandra Särav-Tammus, vice-chancellor of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told the ERR programme "Aktuaalne kaamera" that a recent study projects Estonia will be short of about 4,500 engineers by 2030. Graduates will cover part of that need, she said, but a country with a declining population must also recruit foreign labour. The 2,569 residence permits forecast for next year are intended for workers in sectors where the study confirmed a staffing shortage. She described these as areas with high export potential and average wages.
The industrial group BLRT currently employs about 4,000 people from 30 countries. Roman Vinartšuk, adviser to the management board of BLRT Grupp, said each new project requires different highly qualified specialists who are not available on the Estonian market. The company is currently building a structure for oil and gas extraction in the North Sea.
Union concerns
Highly qualified specialists can already be brought to Estonia outside the quota, but they must be paid one and a half times the national average salary. The additional quota would allow foreign workers to be paid 80% of Estonia's average wage. Trade union representatives believe this could encourage cheap labour to come to the country.
Kaja Vask, chair of the Estonian Trade Union Confederation, asked whether all the sectors listed in the regulation truly face an acute labour shortage, or whether they include fields that Estonians avoid because of poor working conditions. In her view, hiring workers from third countries in effect legitimises low labour standards without improving the situation itself.
Amendments to the Aliens Act have been sent for inter-agency coordination, which ends on 13 November.
