About 60% of working-age Ukrainian refugees found a job in Estonia
That's according to Estonia's broadcaster ERR, Ukrinform reports.
Katrin Liivamets, head of the employer services department at the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and Ulla Saar, deputy secretary general for labor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, said that Ukrainians are becoming more active in the job market as they settle their daily lives and future plans.
"Where will I live? Where can my children attend kindergarten or school? Plans have become clearer, whether to stay here long-term as the war in Ukraine continues. Once the decision to stay is made, people start looking for jobs and want to contribute to their family's well-being and participate in society here," Saar said.
About 40 percent of Ukrainians perform unskilled labor, with nearly a quarter working in the manufacturing industry. This is partly because the education received in Ukraine does not meet Estonian standards. However, additional training is also being organized.
Liivamets mentioned that the best example has been healthcare workers whose qualifications were not initially sufficient to start working in Estonia. "For them, Tartu Health Care College offered a one-year harmonization or bridging program. People actively started to enhance their knowledge and skills and learned Estonian in parallel," she said.
The unemployment rate among Ukrainians has also decreased. Currently, around 3,100 Ukrainians are registered as unemployed, which constitutes 6.5 percent of all unemployed people in Estonia.
