Foreign workforce invades

TALLINN - Foreign companies that have big projects in Estonia follow two rules: first, they bring their own key staff with them, since this way it is easier for them to manage operations, and second, there might not be enough people in the target market with the necessary skills they are looking for, reports Postimees.
The main contractor in the construction of the Iru electricity station waste energy block is French company CNIM. As they build similar stations in different countries, they use the same team everywhere.

CNIM is the chief contractor, while they have dozens of different subcontractors who come from Germany, Austria and Poland. Altogether 200 people work at the building, with half of them from Estonia and half from abroad. “For example, installation of a boiler in a power stations is very specific work. There is little of this workforce in the world and the same teams do it everywhere across the world,” said Iru Power station development manager Urmo Heinam. The 105 million euro station should be completed in a year’s time.

The contact grid of Estonian Railways lines heading west of Tallinn is being renovated by Czech company Elektrizace zeleznic Praha. There are teams of 15-20 Czechs working at any time, as well as a few Estonians who work in the jobs where language skills are important. The Czech teams are replaced every month. “We always do the work with our own people, since the work is very specific and we know what our people can do,” said Elektrizace zeleznic Praha secretary Sergei Jershov.

Police and Border Guards board expert Ellen Lebedeva said that it is not just foreign companies that prefer a foreign workforce, but companies registered in Estonia too. For example, ship repair company BLRT constantly needs highly qualified welders, ship assemblers and painters. It is hard to find experienced ship engineers and technical project managers in Estonia, they say. The company’s personnel service head, Viktoria Goihinberg, said that foreign specialists form 22 percent of the concern’s Estonian staff.

Police and Border Guard data indicate that in the first six months of this year, 435 people from outside the EU have applied for term residence work permits in Estonia. The permit is good for 5 years.
Last year 1,430 such permits were issued. 386 people have come to work to Estonia for up to 6 months already this year.