The number of available jobs in Estonia has consistently been above 10,000 since the first quarter of 2017.

Total positions vacant and occupied counted 602,200 in the second quarter, according to Statistics Estonia. This means an increase of 1% compared to the previous quarter.

The economic activities of manufacturing (18%), wholesale and retail trade (15%) and education (10%) continued to have the largest impact on the total number of positions. The manufacturing and wholesale as well as the retail trade sector are the biggest employers in Estonia, with the number of vacancies the highest in these areas as well.

The most open positions were reported in manufacturing and wholesale (1,810), retail trade (1,750) and education (1,100).

The rate of job vacancies, ie. the share of job vacancies in the total number of posts, was 1.9% in the second quarter, which is 0.1% higher than in the first quarter and 0.2% lower than in the second quarter of 2017.

The rate of job vacancies was highest in financial and insurance activities (4.7%) and administrative and support services activities (3.0%). The rate of job vacancies was lowest in real estate activities (0.2%) and in mining and quarrying (0.4%).

Most of the vacant posts were available in Harju County (67%), including Tallinn (55%), followed by Tartu County (11%) and the Ida-Viru and Pärnu counties (5% each). The rate of job vacancies was highest in the Lääne (3.2%) and Põlva (2.4%) counties, and lowest in Hiiu County (0.5%).

28% of the vacant posts were in the public sector. The rate of job vacancies was highest in enterprises owned by foreign private entities (2.6%) and in municipal institutions and enterprises (2.2%). The rate of job vacancies reached 2.0% in state institutions and enterprises and 1.5% in enterprises owned by Estonian private entities.

The movement of labour is characterised by labour turnover (the total number of engaged and left employees), which amounted to approximately 113,500 in the second quarter, denoting a 25% increase compared to the previous quarter and a 20% increase compared to the second quarter of the previous years. Compared to the first quarter of 2018, the largest increase in labour turnover was registered in mining and quarrying, and there was a decrease only in professional, scientific and technical activities. In the second quarter of 2018, both the number of employees hired and the number of employees who left their job were highest in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and construction.