Bottleneck Vacancies in Estonia

Transcription

1 Bottleneck Vacancies in Estonia Certain sectors more affected than others by recruitment difficulties Main bottlenecks in Estonia appear within the machinery and metalworking sectors where a number of specific types of engineers and skilled manual workers are in a high demand. Within the growth sectors, several occupations related to ICT and health care experience labour shortages. Estonia 2012 Population: 1.3m Workforce: 0.7m Unemployment: 10.2% Bottleneck vacancies occur with certain occupations Unmet labour demand affects mainly highskilled occupations, such as specific types of engineers, teaching professionals (excl. university and higher education teachers), medical doctors, software and applications developers and analysts, and occupations related to sales and marketing. Also, several nonhigh skilled occupations are identified as bottlenecks, among others machinery mechanics and repairers, electrical equipment installers and repairers, welders and flamecutters, and textile, fur and leather products machine operators. All identified bottleneck vacancies have been permanent, and mainly stable or increased since There are no indicators of seasonal bottlenecks. Underlying reasons vary for bottlenecks Most bottleneck occupations in Estonia occur due to a lack of technical competencies which is particularly pressing a problem among skilled manual workers and highly skilled engineers. The skilled manual occupations also suffer from the poor societal image which results in youngsters unwillingness to acquire respective education. Although most bottleneck vacancies have been identified at national level, employers in general have more difficulties in finding skilled workers outside the main urban regions. Most initiatives to cope with bottleneck vacancies have been implemented by employers Mainly, the mitigation strategies in Estonia focus on training and education. For example, flagship ICT companies organise summer universities to train software and applications developers and analysts. At national level, the most common initiatives are aimed at increasing labour supply by training of unemployed. In addition, employers continue to source high skilled candidates from abroad. Assessment of available evidence Scarce. See page 5 for more information. TOP 20 Bottleneck Vacancies in Estonia 2013* Occupation (ISCO08)** Building frame and related worker Electrical engineer Electrical equipment installer and repairer Mechanical engineer Welder and flamecutter Electronics engineer Machinery mechanic and repairer Software and applications developer and analyst Teaching professional (excl. university and higher education teacher) Cook Medical doctor Sales and marketing manager Commercial sales representative Metal working machine tool setter and operator Textile, fur and leather products machine operator Development since 2008 * Note: a ranking of the occupations was not possible (see page 5); ** An occupation has been identified on a 4digit level of ISCO08 when possible Page 1

2 Top 20 Bottleneck Vacancies Bottleneck vacancies in Estonia occur mainly with highskilled occupations, such as specific types of engineers, teaching professionals (excl. university and higher education teachers), medical doctors, software and applications developers and analysts, and occupations related to sales and marketing. In the machinery and metalworking sectors, highly skilled engineers are difficult to recruit, although the official number of vacancies remains relatively low. Consequently, the lack of highly skilled workers slows down innovation processes in these sectors. Also, several skilled manual occupations related to the machinery and metalworking sectors, such as machinery mechanics and repairers, metal working machine tool setters and operators, and welders and flamecutters, are identified as bottlenecks. Overall, the societal image of many skilled manual occupations in Estonia is poor and, thus, youngsters do not choose to acquire respective education. The societal attitude accentuates employers difficulties in finding skilled manual workers with sufficient technical competencies. The only skilled nonmanual occupation identified as a bottleneck is cooks. Exceptionally, the main reason for recruitment difficulties is not a lack of technical competencies, but dissatisfactory salaries. Although most bottleneck vacancies have been identified at national level, employers in general have more difficulties in finding skilled workers in rural areas. Particularly, lack of teaching professionals and medical doctors is a severe problem outside the main urban regions. All identified bottleneck vacancies have been permanent, and mainly stable or increasing since There are no indicators of seasonal bottlenecks. The available information in Estonia allows for identifying only the top 15 bottleneck vacancies. The available information does not allow ranking of bottleneck vacancies (see p. 5). Rank Bottleneck Vacancies ISCO08 Number of Employed in Occupation 2011 Skills level (ISCO08) Geographical aspects Building frame and related worker 16,736 SM National Electrical engineer 1,049 HS National Electrical equipment installer and repairer 6,847 SM National Mechanical engineer 1,056 HS National Welder and flamecutter 5,741 SM National Electronics engineer 605 HS National Machinery mechanic and repairer 10,834 SM National Software and applications developer and analyst 5,089 HS National Teaching professional (excl. university and higher education teacher) 26,779 HS Rural Cook 6,611 SNM National Medical doctor 4,145 HS Rural Sales and marketing manager 3,143 HS National Commercial sales representative 15,032 HS National Metal working machine tool setter and operator 3,008 SM National Textile, fur and leather products machine operator 7,159 SM National Elem:Elementary, SNM: Skilled non manual, SM: Skilled manual, HS= High skilled Page 2

3 Sectors with Bottleneck Vacancies Sectors Machinery and metalworking Health ICT Bottleneck vacancies Machinery mechanic and repairer, Welder and flamecutter, Metal working machine tool setter and operator, Electrical equipment installer and repairer, Electronics engineer Medical Doctor Software and applications developer and analyst Main bottlenecks in Estonia appear in the machinery and metalworking sectors where a number of specific types of engineers and skilled manual workers are in a high demand. Important bottlenecks also affect some growth sectors such as the ICT and health sectors Bottlenecks in Machinery and Metalworking The machinery and metalworking sectors are one of the leading sectors in Estonian manufacturing industry which account for approximately one third of the export turnover. According to a study on the Estonian machinery sector (Enterprise Estonia), finding engineers who are capable of leading innovation is assessed to be most problematic. Also, industry representatives encounter difficulties in finding skilled manual workers with sufficient technical competencies. Main reasons for Bottleneck Vacancies Lack of technical competencies Most bottleneck occupations in Estonia occur due to a lack of technical competencies which is especially a problem among skilled manual workers and highly skilled engineers. This is also the case of the rapidly explanding ICT sector where an insufficient supply of professionals couples with competition between companies. Poor image of certain occupations The skilled manual occupations, e.g. machinery mechanics and repairers, also suffer from the poor societal image which results in youngsters unwillingness to study the specialities of respective fields. In the health care sector, in addition to a significant outflow of specialised profiles, workers are not willing to move to Estonian rural areas where professional health care workers are in need. Regional disparities and age issues In Estonia, recruitment difficulties are strongly affected by high regional disparities. This problem is not specific to any particular occupation but follows the labour market situation in general. Consequently, employers located outside the main urban regions might encounter more difficulties in finding suitable applicants. Several bottleneck occupations, for instance electrical equipment installers and repairers, face the problem of high average age of current labour which might pose a problem in the future. Page 3

4 Initiatives to cope with Bottleneck Vacancies Most initiatives aimed at mitigating bottleneck vacancies in Estonia have been implemented by employers. The most common mitigation strategy consists of providing additional training and development to existing staff. At the same time, especially in the machinery and metalworking sectors, employers cooperate with vocational schools or higher education institutions in terms of providing scholarships and offering internship opportunities to students. No overarching strategies have been implemented at national level. However, existing initiatives are mostly aimed at increasing labour supply, for instance, by training of unemployed and inactive population. Measure at the national level are implemented by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund. Employers continue to source high skilled candidates from abroad, although he number of employment permits from outside the EU has dropped. Skills Strategies Working conditions Most mitigation strategies, implemented both at national level and at the level of employers, focus on training and education. Employers cooperate with the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund and vocational schools with the purpose of increasing applicants technical competencies by designing appropriate training programmes and offering internship opportunities. Employers of the ICT sector provide attractive and flexible working conditions for recruiting and retaining valuable software and applications developers and analysts with sufficient knowledge and experiences. Attractive working conditions play an important role in a whole motivation package. Flagship ICT companies (e.g. Nortal Ltd., an international highend software development solutions provider) organised summer universities to train software developers, testers and analysts with the concrete possibility to employ the best ones. Wages Mobility Employers of the ICT sector offer high wages to recruit and retain scarce experienced software and applications developers and analysts. High wages are an important part of a whole motivation package. Employers of the ICT sector implement recruitment activities, e.g. training programmes for free, which are aimed at people working in occupations related to software and applications developers and analysts. Page 4

5 Main sources used to identify Bottleneck Vacancies in Estonia The bottleneck vacancies have been identified from a crossstudy analysis by using the following data sources. Five studies, covering the period between 2010 and 2013, on the Estonian energy sector, machinery sector, construction sector, agricultural, food and forestry sectors, and ICT sector. One study on Estonian changing labour market and vocational education. Six interviews with stakeholders, which were carried out during the data collection. The information gained from the studies and interviews was combined and weighed. Only those occupations which have been identified as bottlenecks by different sources have been included in the final list. In addition, a supplydemand ratio, based on the data provided by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund with reference to 2013 (first quarter), was developed and used to validate the findings. Only 15 bottleneck vacancies have been identified in Estonia. Furthermore, the main reasons for bottleneck problems and mitigation strategies have been explored through desk research on studies, newspaper articles and websites, and complemented by interviews with various stakeholders. Overall, the quality of data is scarce. There are no data or studies in Estonia which provide an overview of all bottleneck occupations and cover all vacancies in occupations. Therefore, the crossstudy analysis conducted in the context of the present study is assessed to be somewhat partial. The five sectorial studies, and a study on Estonian changing labour market and vocational education are crosssectional in nature. The studies have been carried out among employers and based on interviews or web questionnaires. As regard to the latter, the sample sizes vary between 75 and 1192 employers, depending on the scope of the study and the overall nature of the sector. Similarly, with respect to the studies based on interviews, the sample sizes vary between 16 and 100 employers. Employers were asked to name the key occupations with which they have recruitment difficulties and to explain in what respect they experience shortages of applicants. Since the data on vacancies as provided by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund is not considered to be complete, it was used as a secondary data source. Sources Eamets R., Meriküll J., Humal K., Krillo K., Pihor K., Rell M., Nurmela K., Kaarna R., Labour demand and supply in the Estonian energy sector, Enterprise Estonia, University of Tartu, Estonian Machinery Sector Study, Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, Data on vacancies Q. Estonian Institute of Economic Research, Construction sector in Estonia: workforce and perspective labour demand, Jalak K., The competencies and skills of the workforce and the labour market needs of the agricultural, food and forestry sectors, Jürgenson A., Magi E., Pihor K. Batueva V., Rozeik H., Arukaevu R., Mapping the status of and need for the Estonian labour with ICT competences, Nestor M., Nurmela K., Changing labour market and vocational education, Survey on employers' satisfaction with vocational education, Five Interviews conducted with key stakeholders and experts. Page 5