Over the past year and a half, Tax and Customs Board has laid off 245 employees. According to director general Marek Helm, the goal was competitive wages.
Tax and Customs Board lays off 245 of staff
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«We wished to motivate the staff. While in the spring of 2012, we employed close to 1,800 people, now we have 1,550,» said Mr Helm.
According to Mr Helm, it is important to stress they did not merely do the lay-offs – also, organisation of work was changed, starting last spring. The new structure was launched at the end of 2012.
«We took management of the Board to one level. Most of the lay-offs concerned people involved in management and coordinating, we took management downwards. For instance, in one area we cut staff, at headquarters, by 40 per cent,» explained Mr Helm.
The other big change was concentrating similar activities into competency centres all over Estonia. «Employees in every region are responsible for the administration of that field all over Estonia. For instance: staff responsible for reporting discipline is located in Tartu; those in charge of border customs – in Narva. For clients, we continue to provide services in all regions, as the law prescribes that taxpayers need to be serviced in nearest bureau to home,» said Mr Helm.
As the result of the changes, the staff at the Board shrunk by 14 percent. «The work became more effective; also, this allowed us to better motivate staff – in some areas, we used to have employee turnover of 20 per cent,» said Mr Helm.
During two years, Tax and Customs Board average wages has increased 20 per cent – for some, more; for some, less. At that, the Board’s budget did not grow at all in 2012; this year, the budget grew 4.3 per cent.