In the 2nd quarter, the number of job vacancies increased

The rate of job vacancies, i.e. the share of job vacancies in the total number of jobs, was 1.5% in the 2nd quarter of 2015. The rate of job vacancies was the highest in the economic activities with wages and salaries higher than the average monthly gross wages and salaries – in information and communication (2.9%) and in finance and insurance activities (2.8%). The rate of job vacancies was the lowest in real estate activities (0.3%).

The highest share of vacant and occupied posts in the total number of jobs was held by manufacturing (20%), wholesale and retail trade (16%) and education (10%).

The rise in the number of job vacancies was the highest in finance and insurance activities and in information and communication activities, where there were respectively 2.1 and 1.8 times more job vacancies compared to the 2nd quarter of 2014.

56% of vacant and occupied posts were still in Harju county (including Tallinn), followed by Tartu county (11%) and Ida-Viru county (8%). In the 2nd quarter, the rate of job vacancies was the highest in Pärnu county (2.3%) and the lowest in Põlva county (0.3%).

71% of the job vacancies were in the private sector and 29% were in the public sector, while in the same period of the previous year, the respective percentages were 78 and 22. In the 2nd quarter of 2015, the rate of job vacancies was 1.7% in the public sector and 1.5% in the private sector. The public sector includes companies owned by the state or local governments.

The movement of labour is characterised by labour turnover (the total of engaged and left employees) which was 61,000 employees in the 1st quarter of 2015, denoting an increase of 1.9% compared to the same period of 2014. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2014, the increase has decreased. In the 1st quarter of 2014, the increase of labour turnover was 5.5% compared to the 1st quarter of 2013. In the 1st quarter of 2015, the largest increase in labour turnover compared to the 1st quarter of 2014 occurred yet again in accommodation and food service activities (26.7%).

The data are based on the job vacancies and labour turnover survey conducted by Statistics Estonia since 2005. In 2015, the sample includes 12,376 enterprises, institutions and organisations; the data of randomly selected units are imputed to the total population separately in each stratum.

The number of job vacancies is the total number of job vacancies on the 15th day of the second month of the 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.