There are a few recipients of collective redundancy benefits in relation to the labour market as a whole, although it is estimated that half of those made redundant become unemployed. There are twice as many recipients of unemployment insurance benefits and about seven times as many recipients of unemployment benefits as there are recipients of collective redundancy benefits.

Most redundancies take place in the manufacturing industry and are typically caused by a reduction in the workload or the restructuring of work. 40-60 years old women prevail among employees made redundant, and most people that are made redundant have worked at their employer for a few years. The analysis also suggests that recipients of redundancy benefits are better suited for the labour market than other recipients of unemployment insurance benefits.

“A service that notifies the employer and employees of the process of redundancy, of their rights and obligations, and supports the employees in their search for a new job, could potentially have a positive effect in Estonia.”

Different socio-demographic groups vary greatly in the proportion of people receiving the unemployment insurance benefit after being made redundant. Therefore, people between 45-54 years of age, residents of South-Estonia, and those who lost their jobs in large-scale redundancies in big companies have a greater chance to become unemployed after being made redundant.

Compared to the rest of Europe, the concept of collective redundancy is very wide in Estonia, including small-scale redundancies in small companies. The procedure of collective redundancies has so far focused on passive functions and active control over the process is missing. Also lacking is early intervention into the process of redundancy and co-operation between different parties to help return those being made redundant back to work.

See also

About redundancy on the web page of the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund