Background information

The aim of this measure is to support structural changes in the economy by facilitating the transition of people from the oil shale industry to new jobs in other fields of the economy.

The average salary in the oil shale sector is significantly higher than the Estonian average, reaching €2,148 based on the 2022 Estonian labour force survey. This means that people who have lost their jobs in the sector can remain recipients of employment benefits for a long time. The support for starting a job will help them get back to the labor market and prevent social problems associated with long-term unemployment.

The measure is the responsibility of Ministry of Social Affairs and will be implemented by the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Content of measure

The measure will be targeted to people who have lost their jobs in the oil shale industry and who would be entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefit (i.e., forced unemployment as opposed to people who leave the industry on their own initiative). The measure aims to:

1. Support the learning of new skills, i.e. university degree, vocational certificate or microdegree; and
2. Motivate workers to get back to the labour market and facilitate the transition to a new job.

In order to facilitate starting a job outside the sector, a person is paid a start-up allowance at the beginning of the new job for up to 12 months. The amount is 30% of the average monthly salary earned in the previous job at the oil shale sector, but a maximum of €1,000 (gross) per month.

The entire budget for the measure is €7 million, of which €5 million comes from the European Union's Just Transition Fund and €2.1 million from the Estonian state budget.

Use of measure

No information available for the moment.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Unemployed Other groups of workers	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government 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	Unknown
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Not applicable

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

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

Social partners, such as peak level Estonian Trade Union Confederation and their branch Estonian Energy Workers' Trade Union Association are involved by institutional setting, as they are members of the national steering committee for Just Transition Plans. However, there is no publicly available information on their involvement in this particular measure.

Views and reactions

Social partners had in the past publicly expressed their views (2020 and 2021) about the plans for Ida-Virumaa region, emphasizing the need to focus on job creation and supporting oil shale industry workers.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 08 September 2023: Ida-Virumaale suunatakse põlevkivisektori töötajate ümberõppeks ja uuele tööle asumise toetamiseks üle 7 miljoni euro (mkm.ee)