Estonian public sector wage fund unlikely to grow next year after all

The public sector's wage fund in Estonia is unlikely to rise in 2025, despite earlier pledges by some government members, ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) reported Monday.
The wage fund was frozen for nearly all public sector workers save teachers this year, while Social Democrats (SDE) leader and Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said he does not see an increase in the wage fund for police officers and firefighters as realistic next year either, adding that this will happen "one day."
Läänemets told AK: "That there will be a wage increase one day is very likely. We just don't know exactly by how much, and in what year it is coming."
The question comes down to even current wage levels remaining without layoffs being made.
"The bare minimum must be to maintain today's income level. That there won't be layoffs, I think, is the most important thing," Läänemets went on.
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) said: "We need to cut 5 percent or an even greater percentage of all state budget fixed costs, meaning [not] cutting investments, but cutting fixed costs in order to stay within the [mandated EU] 3 percent deficit [range]."
Raising the minimum wage paid to educators so that it keeps up with average wages would require a 6 percent hike, which would in turn require an additional €50 million.
On the other hand, the government says it must cut fixed costs.
Kallas said teachers' salaries can be boosted via layoffs, or by reallocating funds from some to others, adding that in any case differentiation for instance based on qualifications or experience will occur more from next year.
"We will differentiate in the sense that a teacher who meets the qualifications will likely earn more than one who does not, while a teacher with a masters degree will earn even more," she said.
Reform Party MP, Riigikogu finance committee member and former finance minister Jürgen Ligi said layoffs are an inevitable necessity in the current situation.
Minister of Culture Heidy Purga (Reform) was on a working visit to Brussels and could not find the time to comment on the wage situation with regard to culture sector employees.
The public sector wage fund for next year will be set during the 2025 state budget negotiations this coming fall.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming