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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Wednesday, 24.04.2024, 00:22

Estonian employers issue a new Manifesto

BC, Tallinn, 15.10.2014.Print version
The Estonian Employers' Confederation revealed on Tuesday its new Employers' Manifesto, which focuses on the only sustainable wealth of the Estonian society – the working people of Estonia, their standard of living and their preparedness for working life, in other words, it is a list of proposals to political parties for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

"Estonia's current competitive advantages have been well-utilized, but we have reason to believe that they do not guarantee our competitiveness for the next two decades. In order to ensure sustainable growth in the living standards of Estonian people over the next decades too, employers estimate that the Estonian society must be restarted as a lively society and our competitiveness has to be put on a new footing," employers found in the manifest.

 

The Employers' Confederation proposals focus on two main themes – improving the competitiveness of Estonian enterprises and education.

 

The manifesto states that the state should carry out a state reform, in order to reduce the proportion of the workforce employed in the public sector of the total workforce. More should be invested in research and development, and EU funds should be channelled into export subsidies, innovation, education, and networking capabilities.

 

Entrepreneurs think that the state must resolutely lower labour taxes and tax changes must be announced 13 months in advance. The minimum social tax requirement should be abolished, in order to make part-time work's tax burden comparable to full-time work. The payment of social tax should be shared between the employer and employee.

 

In order to link vocational training and practical work better, apprenticeship or workplace-based studies format should be integrated into educational curricula. In the long run, the secondary education should be made compulsory because people with basic education are not competitive or able to develop at the dynamic labour market. Higher education should become more international – there should be more foreign students and academic staff members in Estonia.






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