Tallinn to Lay Off Up to 15% of Workers to Raise Salaries for the Rest
The City of Tallinn today announced plans to lay off 10-15 percent of its civil servants next year in order to raise salaries.
A committee led by Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas has been tasked with looking over the city agencies' personnel situation by May 15 and determining the areas that will be cut.
The city plans to raise salaries across the board for those who remain by an estimated 10-15 percent on average.
In a press release, Aas said that city officials' salaries last rose in 2009, and that bonuses, performance pay and holiday pay were scrapped during the recession.
Aas said it has proven hard to recruit new mid-level managers and specialists due to the country's quickly rising salaries, including those for state government jobs.
"In order to preserve a quality workforce the salaries of agencies' managing workers and specialists must be kept up to speed with the general level of salaries on the market," Aas said.