kutsealad

Kutsealad are broad sectors of activity used in Estonia to categorize occupations and employers by the main field of activity. The term combines kutse (profession) and ala (field). In official statistics, kutsealad help summarize employment, wages, and vacancies across sectors, track structural changes in the economy, and support policy planning. They are used in labour-market analysis, education planning, and vocational training to align curricula and apprenticeships with the needs of different parts of the economy. A single occupation may appear in several kutsealad depending on the tasks performed and the employer's primary activity, so the classification emphasizes the activity rather than job titles alone.

Common kutsealad include health care and social work; education; manufacturing; construction; information and communication; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service; professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities; public administration; arts, entertainment and recreation; and agriculture, forestry and fishing. The specific subcategories are periodically revised to reflect economic change, and are typically aligned with international industry classifications to facilitate comparability in official data.

In education and career guidance, kutsealad help students and jobseekers understand the main fields of work and the pathways into them, while policymakers use the data to evaluate labour-market needs, plan vocational education programs, and monitor regional development.