Analytics, Employment, Estonia, EU – Baltic States

Around a half of people seeking a job abroad want to go to Finland but they also show interest towards Germany and Austria, the labour markets of which will open up for Estonians on May 1 next year. Currently, permission must be applied to for working in Germany and Austria.

“People have explicit plans for going,” said European job-seeking bureau Eures head Marta Traks. Thus people are now inquiring about taxation and rights in the target country, rather than showing just general interest.

The reasons for leaving Estonia are different. “Young people are looking for challenges,” said Traks, adding that young people are looking for lower position jobs. 25-45-year-olds mainly go with the aim of making money or if their current job isn’t satisfactory anymore.

There is another group of people among those leaving, people who have problems servicing their loans.

Estonia has the third-highest joblessness among young people: 37% of young people are jobless.

According to a human resources report published in July, a tenth of Estonian residents have left to work or live abroad. The report states though that there is no exact data on movement of people.