Investors' Summit Delves Into Thorny Labor Market Issues
The difficulty long faced by business leaders in finding highly qualified labor, in particular when it has to be brought in from abroad, was the central topic at an investors' summit held in Tallinn on Thursday.
The stated goal of the event, which was organized by several international chambers of commerce and mainly attended by business representatives, was an attempt to answer the question, "Is Estonia ready to open up more for foreign talent?"
The answer from the government representatives speaking at the summit was mixed, at least on the largest issue of the day - whether state immigration policies would be eased, and bureaucracy reduced, for residence permits for non-EU citizens.
Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher, speaking to that topic, downplayed the problem.
"Estonia's employment regulation is no stricter or milder than that of Europe," he told those in attendance. He further said that the problems had been discussed with companies such as Skype, but that when the ministry takes a closer look at the specific problems, "we find that they have been small and were solved."
A very different note was sounded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' deputy secretary general of economic development, Ahti Kuningas, who pointed out several places where the process was needlessly bureaucratic and presented possible policy improvements.
Business representatives, most of whom had negative experiences with the residence permit process, took issue with Vaher's assessment and raised concerns about the absence of coordinated government policy to make systematic changes.
Other issues they raised included the lack of affordable, international education for school-aged children, difficulty in finding places in kindergarten and negative social attitudes toward non-European immigrants.