work2future
United States of America
work2future is Silicon Valley’s Workforce Investment Network. It is a part of the national workforce development system as authorized by …
Good practice
Imported
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Work in Estonia — national talent attraction programme and International House of Estonia
Estonia · Tallinn · See the Estonia profile · See the Tallinn profile
Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 65% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice
National talent attraction initiative (since 2015) with the International House of Estonia in Tallinn as one-stop hub; 2022–2025 target: 3,000 ICT/science specialists (≥€26 M in direct taxes). Estonia ranks 23rd in the INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness Index.
doubled
Increase in expatriates working in Estonia (5-year period)
~50% employment rate
Re-Invent Yourself first cohort employment rate (first cohort)
3,000 specialists
Target: additional high-paid ICT/science specialists (2022-2025)
26 € million
Projected direct tax revenue from target (2022-2025 target)
23 rank of 125 countries
INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness Index rank
1 rank
Global rank for new business density and digital governance
Details
- Maturity
- Established
- Promoter
- Enterprise Estonia (EAS) / Work in Estonia programme
- Period
- {'end': '', 'start': '2015'}
- Region (NUTS)
EE001- Keywords
- International talent attraction and integration services
Context
Work in Estonia is a national talent-attraction initiative run by Enterprise Estonia (EAS) since 2015, anchored by the International House of Estonia, a one-stop physical hub opened in 2018 at Ülemiste City in Tallinn that supports relocating workers, families and employers.
Objectives
To make Estonia attractive to international skilled workers and help Estonian companies recruit and retain foreign talent, including support for accompanying family members.
Activities
The programme helps companies recruit internationally, assists workers with relocation and settling in, and offers career services to accompanying spouses through the Re-Invent Yourself programme, with employer partners such as Bolt and Paxful, alongside Estonia's digital e-state infrastructure.
Results
The number of expatriates working in Estonia is reported to have doubled over five years, and the Re-Invent Yourself programme achieved around 50% employment among its first cohort. The 2022-2025 action plan targets 3,000 additional ICT and science specialists, projected to generate at least €26 million in direct tax revenue, and Estonia ranks 23rd of 125 countries on the INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness Index.
Conclusions
The programme pairs a physical one-stop service hub with Estonia's digital public-service infrastructure, a model the source frames as well suited to small open economies competing for global talent, though several headline figures lack a published baseline or independent verification.
Implementation
- Indicative cost
- Medium (€50k–€500k)
- Time to results
- Long (> 3 years)
- Staffing & skills
- Enterprise Estonia (EAS) programme staff, International House of Estonia hub staff coordinating with the Public Employment Service
Conditions for success
- Estonia's e-state digital infrastructure (fast company registration, digital public services)
- A physical one-stop hub co-located with employers at Ülemiste City
- Employer partnerships (e.g. Bolt, Paxful) supporting the Re-Invent Yourself spouse-employment programme
Common failure modes
- Scaling nationally is constrained by reliance on a single physical hub, which would require additional hubs and proportional state investment to expand
Where it fits
- Governance type
- national government agency
- Scale
- national
- Income level
- high-income
Commonly funded by
National / regional programmes
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
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Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-20
- Enterprise Estonia (EAS) / Work in Estonia programme — accessed 2026-06-20
- Work in Estonia — official programme site — accessed 2026-06-20
- Baltic Times: Work in Estonia expanding to ICT and natural sciences (2022) — accessed 2026-06-20
- Invest in Estonia: Re-Invent Yourself — talent attraction for international spouses — accessed 2026-06-20
- Work in Estonia: INSEAD talent competitiveness ranking — accessed 2026-06-20
Attachments
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