The state supports Estonian employers in finding workforce in the ICT sector

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
Press release
20.04.2018

Urve Palo, the Minister of Enterprise and Information Technology, signed the terms and conditions for the introduction of 2000 foreign ICT specialist into Estonia. The support programme is part of the Work in Estonia project and aims to support Estonian employers with the additional costs incurred with recruiting foreign specialists.

“It is estimated that the Estonian ICT sector is currently lacking about seven thousand professionals. We have created opportunities for young people interested in the field to study ICT in both vocational schools and universities, and there are several ICT retraining programmes available for adults, as well,” said Palo. “The labour demand of Estonian companies is so high that there are not enough Estonians interested in working in the digital field to recruit. In a situation where the shortage of employees prevents the further growth of companies, we want to support the state in bringing foreign specialists to Estonia,” the minister said in a commentary about the lack of workforce in the Estonian ICT sector.

The requirement for receiving the foreign recruitment grant is that the ICT sector employee must have paid taxes in Estonia for at least five months. The aim is to cover the costs that employers make in the recruitment of new people, which means that the trained specialist must not have worked or studied in Estonia in the last three years.

“The support programme is open to all employers who need employees with ICT skills. The gross wage of the recipient of the grant must be at least EUR 2,000,” explained the minister.

The foreign recruitment grant is part of the Work in Estonia project. The support programme has a budget of 4 million euros, which is planned to be distributed over the course of three years, and it is funded by the ICT development programme. The aim of the ICT development programme is to solve various problems in the Estonian digital sector: offer adaptation services to foreign specialists, support the digitalisation of the industry, improve the use of data-based approach in the development of products and service, etc.

Employers can start applying for the Enterprise Estonia foreign ICT specialists recruitment grant from the 14th of May. The grant is EUR 2,000 per one hired ICT specialist.

 

For employers:
More information regarding the requirements and necessary documents will be posted here: www.workinestonia.com/for-employers/foreign-recruitment-grant/