In the 1st quarter, the number of job vacancies exceeded 11,200
According to Statistics Estonia, there were over 11,200 job vacancies in the enterprises, institutions and organisations of Estonia in the 1st quarter of 2017. This is the highest number of job vacancies in the past 8 years. While in the previous quarter, the number of job vacancies reached slightly above 9,000, in the 1st quarter, the number of job vacancies increased by 24%.
The number of job vacancies in the 1st quarter of 2017 was more or less the same as the record level reached in the 3rd quarter of 2016, when the number of job vacancies exceeded 11,000 for the first time in seven years. In the 1st quarter, however, the number of job vacancies exceeded the previous record by 140 vacancies. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2016, when the number of job vacancies exceeded 8,200, the number of job vacancies increased by 35%.
The share of vacant and occupied posts in the total number of posts continued to be the highest in manufacturing (19%), wholesale and retail trade (16%) and education (10%).
The rate of job vacancies, i.e. the share of job vacancies in the total number of jobs, was 2.0% in the 1st quarter of 2017, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than in the 4th quarter of 2016 and 0.5 percentage points higher than in the 1st quarter of 2016.
In the 1st quarter, the rate of job vacancies was the highest in administrative and support service activities (4.0%) and accommodation and food service activities (3.2%). The rate of job vacancies was the lowest in water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (0.9%), mining and quarrying (1.0%) and real estate activities (1.0%).
Most of the vacant posts were available in Harju county (70%) (including 57% in Tallinn), followed by Tartu county (8%) and Ida-Viru county (4%). The rate of job vacancies was the highest in Harju county (2.4%) and the lowest in Hiiu (0.5%), Saare (0.9%) and Valga (1.1%) counties.
Three quarters, or 75% of the vacant posts were in the private sector. In the 1st quarter of 2017, the rate of job vacancies was the highest in state organisations (2.7%) and foreign private-sector institutions (2.5%). The rate of job vacancies was the lowest in local government organisations (1.1%).
The movement of labour is characterised by labour turnover (the total number of engaged employees and those who have left), which amounted to 81,000 in the 4th quarter of 2016, denoting a 10% decrease compared to the previous quarter and a 21% increase compared to the 4th quarter of 2015. Compared to the 4th quarter of 2015, the largest decrease in labour turnover occurred in education (58%), professional, scientific and technical activities (45%) and in accommodation and food service activities (33%). In the 4th quarter, both the number of employees hired and the number of employees who left their job were the highest in wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing.
The data are based on the statistical activity “Job vacancies and labour turnover”, conducted by Statistics Estonia since 2005. In 2017, the sample includes 12,600 enterprises, institutions and organisations; the data of randomly selected units are imputed to the total population separately in each stratum. As of the 2nd quarter of 2016, Statistics Estonia uses the data of the Employment Register of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board to pre-fill the survey questionnaires. The main representative of public interest for the statistical activity is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data necessary for conducting the statistical activity. The number of job vacancies is the total number of job vacancies on the 15th day of the second month of a quarter. A job vacancy is a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied or becomes vacant when an employee leaves, and for which the employer is actively trying to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise, institution or organisation concerned.