According to Statistics Estonia, there were more than 8,300 job vacancies in Estonia in the second quarter of this year. The largest number of vacancies were in education, public administration and retail.

Ain Käpp, head of the labor market working group at the Estonian Employers' Confederation, said that as a small country, Estonia cannot afford to have people who are able to work remain outside the labor market. Golden League (Kuldne Liiga), an advocacy organization for older people, aims to create an age-friendly society in which the equal treatment of older people in the labor market also plays an important role.

"It also depends on whether employers are interested in hiring older people because not everyone is able to work eight hours a day and some need workplace accommodations," said Agu Laius, head of advocacy at Golden League. "The state should consider how to make greater use of our older population because our working-age population will decline significantly over the coming decades," he added.

Both Laius and Käpp said amendments to the Employment Contracts Act that took effect this year and allow flexible working hours represent a major step forward.

"We need to offer greater flexibility — whether people do not want to work full time because of their health, need to look after their grandchildren from time to time or want to work small amounts at several different jobs," Käpp said.

"Today, the law allows all of this and we as companies need to give it more thought ourselves because these people's experience is extremely valuable. A team made up of people of different ages is very strong and capable," Käpp added.

In July, the Unemployment Insurance Fund began paying wage subsidies to employers for hiring people aged 55 and older who have been out of working life for an extended period. Ulla Saar, a member of the Unemployment Insurance Fund's management board, said more people in this age group have found jobs compared with last year. Saar added that prejudice often affects both job searches and recruitment.

"In my view, short-term work gigs, trial work or job shadowing, for example, are very good measures," Saar said.

"I've visited various employers while touring the counties and quite a few have been willing to admit that they had prejudices about hiring people aged 55, 60 or even 65 and older. They tried trial work, hiring someone for a couple of days and every employer I spoke with was pleasantly surprised. They learned that age is just a number and that the person was perfectly capable of doing the job," Saar said.

Pirjo Turk, head of the equality policies department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, said the state has introduced distinctions in legislation, but discussions are continuing and the issue remains on the agenda.

"There are many different parties involved and we need to make sure the burden does not fall too heavily on one side or the other. As a result, changes are not always easy and take time," Turk said.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!