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In an interview with the Russian news desk of BNS Estonia, Estonia's Minister of Education and Research Jaak Aaviksoo invited Russian-speakers to more actively run for jobs in public service.
Estonian minister invites Russian-speakers to more actively vie for public service jobs
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"Maybe this isn't the best comparison, but we know that in Estonian society there exists a difference of 30 percent between the wage levels of men and women -- it's the biggest gap in the European Union. Unfortunately we can see also a wage gap between Estonian-speakers and Russian-speakers, even though it's smaller. That gap is narrowing quietly, but not quickly enough," Aaviksoo said answering a question about low representation of Russian-speakers in the public sector.
"I think it has to do with it, and it's backed up by proof, that men simply demand a bigger income on the grounds that their outlays are bigger, such as for maintaining the family. Women are much more restrained. I think that on a personal level a feeling has emerged among the Russian-speaking population that 'we're not welcome there, we're being discriminated against'," said the minister.
Asked what advice he could give to Russian-speakers who would like to take up a public service career in Estonia, Aaviksoo recommended Russian-speakers to run for public sector jobs with much greater self-assurance and not to become discouraged if their candidacy is rejected. "As a matter of fact, we don't have enough officials at the Ministry of Education who are proficient in Russian on the level of having it as their first language," he said.
What is necessary is that people would come and run for a job, Aaviksoo said. The minister said he is convinced that there will be more Russian-speakers in public service one year from now and more still after a period of three years.
"Of course it's a serious problem, I understand. Here we need efforts from both sides," Aaviksoo said.
Aaviksoo gave the interview to the Russian news desk of BNS Estonia in Russian on April 23.