Estonian job vacancies hit 9-year high

2017-09-08
LETA/TBT Staff

TALLINN – There were approximately 12,000 job vacancies in the enterprises, institutions and organizations of Estonia in the second quarter of 2017, the highest such number in the past nine years, Statistics Estonia said on Friday.

Compared to the second quarter of 2016, when the number of job vacancies was 9,500, the number of vacancies in the second quarter of this year was bigger by 26 percent.

The number of vacancies was slightly higher than in the first quarter of this year, when job vacancies numbered 11,200. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of job vacancies increased by 7 percent.

The share of vacant and occupied posts in the total number of posts continued to be the highest in manufacturing,20 percent, wholesale and retail trade, 15 percent, and education, 10 percent. The total number of jobs in the second quarter was over 561,000.

The rate of job vacancies, that is, the ratio of job vacancies to the total number of jobs was 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2017, 0.1 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter and 0.4 percentage points higher than in the second quarter of 2016.

In the second quarter, the rate of job vacancies was highest in accommodation and food service activities, 4.3 percent, and in administrative and support service activities, 3.0 percent. The rate of job vacancies was lowest in real estate activities, 0.7 percent, and in mining and quarrying, 0.8 percent.

More than three quarters, or 78 percent, of the vacant posts were in the private sector. In the second quarter of 2017, the rate of job vacancies was highest in state organizations, 2.6 percent, and foreign private-sector institutions, 2.9 percent. The rate of job vacancies was lowest in local authority organizations, 1.1 percent.

Most of the vacant jobs were in Harju county, 67 percent, including 51 percent in Tallinn, followed by Tartu county with 9 percent and East-Viru county with 6 percent. The number of vacant posts was lowest in the counties of Jogeva, Hiiu and Rapla.