The government approved the draft employment reform in favor of disabled persons on June 12. It is the result of a 2-year survey and of discussions between experts and associations. Requested by the European Commission, it is an answer to a structural manpower need. However, unions are worried and say the provisions are rushed.
A reform encouraging disabled people to join the labor market. There are approximately 100,000 disabled people and about 50 percent of them don’t earn a professional income. Besides, the number of people receiving a disability pension allegedly more than doubled since 2000, which the government says is inacceptable. Meanwhile, Estonia is having a hard time recruiting unskilled workers. In February 2014, Ahti Kuningas, deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, said that it was time to think about finding people to do “simple” work, e.g.
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