A total of 200.7 jobs will be lost in the Tallinn City government system as a result of layoffs which began last year and will continue until this June. The biggest number of layoffs – 42 – was for staff in the city's district administrations.

Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) told ERR that the aim is to complete the structural reforms by June at the latest. This is because the supplementary budget is due soon and that money can then be redistributed between different authorities.

"Most of the decisions were already taken last year. This year, the departments still have a certain number of proposals to make, and these are related to specific reforms, not mechanical changes," Ossinovski said. "For example, in the municipal police department, nine posts have been lost as a result of structural reforms."

In the Tallinn Welfare and Health Care Department, including its administrative section, 23.7 jobs (23 full-time positions plus the equivalent of one part-time role with 70 percent of full working hours) will be lost. Ossinovski noted that the department has been combined into a joint one, meaning the structure of different posts will be gradually reviewed in order to achieve further savings through efficiency.

Similarly, in the field of culture and sport, the Tallinn Culture and Sports Department and its administration will see a reduction of 9.5 jobs.

"So far, we have saved €6 million, but that is not all, because more will come from other places too. We have an agreement with the managers that 50 percent of the salary fund from the positions vacated can be kept to increase the salaries of other staff in those departments, so departments have intrinsic motivation to reform," he explained.

While many jobs can be eliminated via internal reforms, there are still other positions for which the purpose has been considered questionable, Ossinovski said.

By way of example, he cited park rangers working in Tallinn's different districts, who did not really add much value in terms of park maintenance, and so those posts were abolished.

However, the main reason for the layoffs is to make working practices more efficient, said the mayor. Four posts have been cut from the Tallinn Vital Statistics Department as they have been consolidated into another department and the same amount of work can be done by fewer staff.

The Transport Administration has been least affected by the layoffs, with only one redundancy made. Ossinovski explained this by the fact that a number of reforms are underway, which will not result in a reduction in the number of jobs, but a significant change in structure and staff. This is the case, for example, in the City Planning Department.

"In the Transport Administration, there have actually been changes in the structure over time, but this has not led to an overall reduction in posts," he added.

As a whole, the potential for savings is less at the level of the central agencies than in the managed agencies, according to Ossinovski. The only managed agency in the Transport Administration, for example, is Tallina Linnatransport, which has made its support system much more efficient.

Eleven posts have been cut from Tallinn Strategic Management Office, 27 have gone from the education department and its administration, and a further 27 from Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department and its administration.

The first layoffs initiated by the current Tallinn city government impacted the city's media department. The "Pealinn" and "Stolitsa" newspapers were closed down, and the city's TV editorial office and communications department were both transferred to the city office service bureau. The number of jobs in the city's media outlets was reduced by 38.

Saving space has not been the goal per se, Ossinovski said, but there will be changes in that regard too.

"We are already giving up the very luxurious building we have been using for city media in Toompuiestee, next to the Baltic station (Baltijaam), in the old Eesti Raudtee building. Next year the lease expires and that will give us considerable savings," he said.

Currently, the former office of the city's media department is occupied by the Transport Administration, which took over the lease until it expires. Last year, the monthly rent for the premises was €26,400, plus utilities of between €7,000 and €10,000 a month. The future amount of annual savings on the rent of the premises as a result of the closure of the city's media will therefore total approximately €420,000.

The budget for the economic costs of the production of programs and the publication of newspapers has been reduced by around €2.1 million since 2023. Taking into account both financial and staff costs, the annual savings from the closure of the city's media outlets will be at least €4.2 million.

The city's financial services department is also set to relocate, with plans to move from the Rotermann quarter to Kaarli puiestee.

According to Ossinovski, if all the planned changes are in place by the end of June, the ambition of the current structural reforms to the municipality will come to an end. The organization cannot be kept in a state of permanent stress, and people can then being able to continue performing their roles in peace, he said.

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