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Column in Postimees: To solve the most urgent of problems of the society we should take into consideration the golden words of the former director of Xerox, Ann Mulcahy: "Problems must be dealt with in the same way one would deal with an animal who has fallen into a ditch. First of all get the animal out of the ditch, then find out why it fell there and then take steps to prevent the animal falling in again." Let's think about the employment problems in the same way

In the ditch in two ways

Today, officially we have 100 000 unemployed persons. From one side, this is the result of the decrease on export markets and of global financial crisis, but on the other hand it is the result of the imbalance and simplicity of our economy. The internal market alone cannot provide jobs and salaries for all of us if there is no significant cash flow from other countries.
On the other hand, exports which would be the main way to create jobs and bring money to the country, is growing very slowly. In Estonia, companies like Ericsson and Skype are brainstorming about how and where from they could find the specialists and engineers they are lacking.

The poll "Foreign Investor 2009" showed that four out of the five most important factors inhibiting company development and expansion in Estonia, were had to do with people. The first problem is the weak system of vocational education, the second problem is the low quality of the work force, the third problem is the weakness of the supplementary education system and the fourth problem is the lack of available skilled labour force. This assessment is supported also by statistics. Half of the unemployed, i.e. about 50 000 people, do not have any specific specialisations - 19% only have basic education and 30% only have high school education. To help these people enter the work force market, it is necessary to teach them a profession. A simple "restoration of the façade" or a brief course is not enough. During the recession in the 90s, the Finns acted wisely by connecting the unemployment aid with an obligation to participate in long-term vocational or supplementary education programs.

We have used nearly ten billion Kroons for the development of vocational education centres and organisations and thus it would be foolish not to use the results of these investments for taking the Estonian human capital to the next level. The unemployed of today unfortunately cannot participate in vocational training whereas at the same time as a result of demographic changes the number of students at schools keeps decreasing drastically. A colleague of mine, in his speech in Riigikogu recommended to create a program for teaching a practical profession/speciality to 20 000 people with no specific training.

Let's simplify the traffic between organisations

This means mobilizing the activities of the implementing organisations of different ministries, including the Estonian Unemployment Fund in charge of managing unemployment, the Innove foundation managing vocational education, Kutsekoda foundation in charge of applying professional standards, the Archimedes foundation managing higher education and science, EAS in charge of the communication with foreign investors and EAS, in charge of giving support for developing enterprises. I am not speaking about uniting the organisations or bringing them under one leadership, but about creating a strong strategy. This type of approach would guarantee a much more effective use of financial resources, not to mention a more serious contribution into development of human assets and encouragement of foreign investors.

A glance to the future from the rear-view mirror

Coming back to the topic of retraining the unemployed, we must make sure that the professions taught will be useful in the future. Unfortunately, currently we have 28 000 unemployed people with vocational or vocational high school education plus another 7 500 unemployed with post-secondary education. When we look at what is happening in the world, we see that the ten most needed jobs of 2020 did not yet exist in 2004. Thus, we have to train people for professions which do not yet exist where they have to solve problems not yet considered problems with technology not yet in use.

What is the current situation? Recently a colleague of mine visited a vocational school in Central Estonia. The situation can be summed up with the words of a young man studying there: "I wanted to learn how to install parquet floors but during the two years I've been here I've only put together wooden pallets in a nearby company." Sadly, this is not an exceptional case and it makes me seriously think about the current situation.

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The experiences of both Estonia and other countries prove that the professions and skills which survive periods of crises the best are quite general but at the same time allow specialisations.

In other words, people should be trained to be competent at certain field and know the its basics instead of being taught how to operate a specific machine. Connection between vocational education and relevant, preferably international practice is of key importance. When it comes to knowledge, also language and communication and computer skills play an important role. From the foreign investors and companies interested in coming to Estonia one gets an idea of the skills and professions which are needed. Here the experiences of EAS come in handy.

In the areas of future, emphasis is put on skills and knowledge about sustainable energy and environment. The second similar expanding area is the field of health and well-being products, services and knowledge - all of the rich world is getting older. Philips even calls the 21st century the century of social industry.

The future topics linked with different economical sectors also require people with more varied vocational skills and personal traits. For example, a nurse of a care clinic, in addition to being competent in his or her profession must also know the languages of the target markets and know how to use the technologies used in his or her field.

The favourite topic of the nation - on scarcity of engineers

In general, the structure of the national order in higher education is favourable for providing engineer education in state-funded studies, but while trying to apply it in practice, we face an anomaly. This is caused by the imbalance towards social sciences in non-state-funded studies. In the scholastic year of 2008/2009 the government placed a national order for training 23 engineers, but instead, the government will receive 14 engineers from 100 students. The variation is caused by the fact that there are 7 non-state-funded engineer students and as much as 56 non-state-funded social sciences students for 100 students. Most of them study in state-run universities. We cannot manage our limited human resources in this manner. Thus, no matter who funds the studies, the country must receive 23 engineers from 100 students - we need them for the development of our country.

I'll finish with the words of Anne Mulcahy: let's learn from the current situation and take effective steps to prevent from our economy falling into the ditch again. Our country's future depends on how well we manage our human resources. We have to ensure that the level of skills and knowledge offered in educational organisations is up-to-date, but at the same time we must control the professional choices of the most talented. When most of them take the easy way out and choose to study economics or law, then there is not enough talented people for the technical and productive fields.

Ott.Parna[A]arengufond.ee, CEO of the Estonian Development Fund