A new publication on economic and labour market trends

Senior Analyst Robert Müürsepp will make a presentation about the Estonian economy in the period 2000–2013. “The global property boom and the ensuing financial crisis have certainly had an impact, but the structure of the Estonian economy has not changed much,” says Müürsepp. “In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about knowledge-based economy, but there has been no real shift towards it. The expenditure on research and development has grown fast in Estonia, but the level of this expenditure is still considerably lower than in wealthier countries and only a small share of R&D expenditure has been used to create new knowledge,” explains Müürsepp.

Principal Analyst Siim Krusell discusses the labour market, focusing on young people. “Age is an important factor for the ways of finding employment, the type of occupation, and job satisfaction,” he says. According to Krusell, the biggest share of young people find employment through acquaintances. Also, young people are more likely to have elementary occupations. “Young people in elementary occupations are more satisfied with their job than older people in the same occupations,” adds Krusell. “Education is crucial for career prospects. Young people with only upper secondary education are likely to remain blue-collar workers, while young people with tertiary education often work as professionals and managers,” says Krusell.

Leading Statistician Yngve Rosenblad analyses the retirement trends of the elderly. “According to Statistics Estonia’s population projection, the population will decline by 10% by 2040. The decrease in population means that people will probably have to work longer in the future. In order to maintain the current ratio of persons employed and pensioners, the retirement age should be 65 in 2020, 68 in 2030 and 70 in 2040,” explains Rosenblad. “At the moment, people retire much earlier, at the age of 59 on average, and often for health-related reasons,” she adds.