AI Is Reshaping Estonia's Job Market, but Experts Decline to Predict the Outcome
Estonian telecom company Telia announced this week that it will cut about 100 jobs, with artificial intelligence taking over. Experts say the long-term effects on the labour market are very hard to forecast.
Telia, a telecommunications company operating in Estonia, announced this week that it will lay off around a hundred employees, who will be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). The technology is already changing the labour market by completing tasks that once took people hours. For businesses it offers a chance to cut costs and raise productivity, while workers need to learn new skills.
Companies' explanations
Telia CEO Andre Visse said technology had grown cheaper for years, but over the past year equipment prices rose sharply amid a microchip crisis. To avoid passing those costs on to customers through higher prices, the company had to cut its operating expenses.
Adopting AI does not necessarily mean job losses, though. Some companies move staff to more complex work instead. Joosep Pyllumae, head of entertainment services at Elisa, described AI as one more tool in the toolbox, as technology has made work more efficient for decades.
Opportunities and risks
IT entrepreneur Anton Keks argued that this is an opportunity for Estonia as a small country that has always lacked qualified specialists. He expects teams of 5–10 people to soon do work that once needed 20. Pyllumae stressed specialisation, an area where he said Estonia holds an advantage.
Beginners may be hit first, since AI can already handle tasks once given to interns and junior analysts. Estonia's unemployment rate is stable for now, however. Visse offered a contrasting view: for young people entering the job market today, using AI tools comes more naturally.
An uncertain future
Johanna Vallisto, executive director of ETUI and a researcher at Tallinn University of Technology, said that in the long term society will need to rethink its system of social protection. She noted that studies suggest AI could potentially perform up to 90% of computer-related tasks in some fields, though in practice it is used far less. Keks emphasised that AI development must remain under human control.
Researchers add that the labour market is also shaped by demographic change, migration, climate processes and geopolitical tension, so confident forecasts are impossible.
