In the run up to the autumn tri-partite negotiations, employers are increasingly finding ways of drawing attention to what may turn out to be the problem that wage increases will pose for Estonia’s economic competitiveness. Unions don’t agree and highlight the issue of the lack of investment, which they intend to raise in the upcoming wage negotiations. In a bid to make the jobs market more flexible, the government is taking measures to attract foreign workers and to allow the youth to work under specific circumstances.
Employers call for moderate wage rises. Toomas Tamsar, president of Estonia’s Employers’ Confederation declared himself most concerned by the rapid increase in wages, which has resulted in a manpower shortage and is putting upward pressure on wages. According to Toomas Tamsar this labor situation is eroding Estonia’s economic competitiveness. National statistics indicate that in the first quarter of 2016, monthly pay before tax was €1,091 and the average hourly wage was €6.86.
Do you have information to share with us?