Finland does not anticipate huge influx of Estonian labour after May 1st

Estonian workers are not expected to rush unhindered to Finland after Finland lifts the two-year transition period from the free movement of Estonian labour on the 1st of May.

This was the assumption of the Finnish and Estonian decision-makers and experts who gathered for a seminar in Tallinn on Friday, April 21.

According to a survey conducted by the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, the most willing to work in Finland are students, men, and the young. Also, the Russians are slightly more eager to have a go than the Estonians, and the less educated are a little bit more anxious to try their hand abroad than the highly educated.

The greatest motivator for embarking on a mission to Finland is the prospect of higher salaries. An average monthly salary in Finland is EUR 2,510, against Estonia's EUR 491.

According to economic analyst Maris Lauri, an average monthly salary of just under EUR 1,000 would be enough to keep the Estonian labour in Estonia. Lauri estimates that 10,000 - 20,000 Estonian will take off after the transition ban is lifted.

Finnish experts agree that a massive influx of Estonian workers is not to be expected, at least not overnight.

So far, only on the ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki can one detect the number of Estonians working in Finland. The authorities do not have exact figures or predictions to display.

The Confederation of Finnish Industries, EK, estimates that around 5,000 Estonian construction workers are employed on Finnish construction sites. Most of them are sent by an Estonian employer. Less than ten percent are directly employed by a Finnish company.

"During the transition period it was impossible to supervise the flow of labour. This resulted in unsound competition within the construction industry", explains EK Director General Leif Fagernäs.

According to Fagernäs, in the future Finland should recruit labour from India, Russia, and the Ukraine, among other places.

According to Lauri Ihalainen, President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the transition period was necessary in order to create a system that would guarantee that foreign and Finnish workers are treated equally.

"We noticed that the collective labour agreement legislation works, but there were shortcomings in supervision", Ihalainen adds. As a result, nine vacancies will be made permanent at the Ministry of the Interior Criminal Police Department, the purpose of which will be to monitor the labour contracts of foreign workers in Finland.

The updated legislation now requires that workers sent to Finland are paid at least the minimum wage, and records are kept of their working hours.

The Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov (SDP) agrees with Ihalainen: "Little by little, we have constructed a legislative framework and made arrangements that improve the monitoring of labour contracts of foreign workers as well as their protection under law."

The most concerned comment came from the representative of the Estonian employers. "The situation is already hopeless but it can still get worse", clarified Tarmo Kriis, Chairman of the Estonian Employers' Confederation.

Estonia is already suffering from a chronic labour shortage. With the free movement of labour a substantial portion of the working-age population is set to disappear overseas. At the same time the large age cohorts are approaching retirement age.


Helsingin Sanomat, Kaja Kunnas