Background information

In order to assess developments in the demand of employment and skills by sectors of activity, occupations and educational levels, two labour force and skills forecasts have been established in Estonia. The aim is to improve the labour market relevance of education and training, by also to involve stakeholders more in the process of skills anticipation, as well as indicating the situation in the labour market for employers and employees.

Other cases related to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) are:

• Response service to collective redundancies
• Employment mediation service by Unemployment Insurance Fund
• Benefits in case of employer insolvency
• Measures to prevent unemployment - work and study

Content of measure

The system of labour market monitoring and future skills forecasting ( Tööjõuvajaduse seire- ja prognoosisüsteem OSKA) aims to improve the labour market relevance of education and training, by also involving more stakeholders in the process of skills anticipation since April 2015. The outcomes of the analyses and forecasts of labour market needs provide essential input to the qualification and career counselling system and to curricula development, as well as for various agencies funding education and training (including, for example, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) see related measures and EE-2006-1_2561). An overview report for the next ten years is published annually, but also overviews of different sectors are published. The whole economy is divided into 24 sectors and five to six sectors per year are thoroughly analysed. The data is gathered from different registries and from interviews with sectoral experts and stakeholders.

Since October 2016, a forecast has been published by the EUIF. This is a short-term labour forecast system by occupation (Occupational barometer). It is updated twice per year and uses the the data of vacancies registered in EUIF and the qualitative conclusions from the regional consultants of the EUIF. The estimates are based on the perspective of the employers. The data presented in the system does not cover all economic fields, but only those that have been emphasised by the employers or regional consultants of EUIF. It does not give quantitative estimates (e.g., how many employees are needed) but shows a general assessment whether there is labour shortage or surplus on specific fields in specific regions.

Use of measure

The OSKA forecast is used in the planning of publicly financed education and training courses, and as a tool for designing employment policies. For example, in the framework of the measure 'work and study', the study allowance is paid in case the person is enrolled to a study programme approved by the EUIF. EUIF approves the programmes which are suffering future labour shortage and does this on the basis of OSKA. The EUIF forecast is mostly used to get a short-time perspective of the labour market situation as it responds quickly to change. No specific use data is available for neither forecast system.

A study on the implementation of OSKA in 2018 (Melesk et al, 2018) concluded that while overall it gives a good forecast and information, a greater attention should be turned on the composition of the sectoral expert groups whose expert opinions determine the quality of the system. Also, the expert groups should take wider context into perspective (outside their specific sector, e.g. labour market trends overall etc). Also, the use of definitions regarding sectors and occupations should be coordinated better between education institutions, labour market institutions and the OSKA analysis.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies Public employment service	European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The OSKA Coordination Council includes the representatives of relevant Ministries, the social partners and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) and thus the design of the measure has been tripartite.

OSKA is used by several parties, which are governed in a tripartite manner (e.g., the EUIF, the Estonian Qualifications Authority (EQA)) and thus the social partners are also relevant in the implementation of the OSKA results in national policies.

Due to the tripartite council of the EUIF, social partners have also been consulted when developing the occupational barometer of the EUIF.

The OSKA Coordination Council and the EQA includes the Estonian Trade Unions Confederation (EAKL), the Estonian Employees' Unions' Confederation (TALO), the Estonian Employers Confederation (ETKL), and the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as social partners. In addition, the EQA has 14 sectoral Occupational Qualification Councils in which sectoral social partners are represented. The tripartite council of the EUIF includes EAKL, TALO and ETKL as social partners.

Views and reactions

No specific information available, but overall it can be concluded that social partners have been positive regarding the measure, as both the peak-level trade union and employers' organisation have promoted the need to match the skills needs and skills supply in the labour market.

Sources

• 01 April 2015: OSKA Metoodika (OSKA Methodology) (oska.kutsekoda.ee)
• 01 April 2015: OSKA juhtimine (OSKA management) (oska.kutsekoda.ee)
• 01 October 2016: Töötukassa tööjõuvajaduse baromeeter (EUIF Labour demand barometer) (www.tootukassa.ee)
• 01 January 2018: Melesk, K., Haaristo, H.-S., Haugas, S. (2018), Tööjõuvajaduse seire- ja prognoosisüsteemi OSKA rakendamise analüüs. Poliitikauuringute Keskus Praxis. (www.praxis.ee)