Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Finland (Ratification: 1968)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the Commission for Local Authority Employers (KT), the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (AKAVA), the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK), and the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), transmitted together with the Government’s report.

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. Consultation with the social partners. The Committee welcomes the detailed information provided in the Government’s report in relation to its Strategic Programme (SP), adopted on 29 May 2015. The Government indicates that its objectives are to promote sustainable growth, employment and entrepreneurship, and to ensure sufficient financial resources for public services and social protection. Its key projects in the area of employment and competitiveness include: improving conditions for business and entrepreneurship, reducing structural unemployment, removing barriers to employment, and reforming the employment services. The Government’s goal is to increase the employment rate to 72 per cent and the number of employed persons by 100,000. The Government notes, however, that achieving this goal has proven difficult. It notes that economic growth and employment have been weaker than anticipated; nevertheless, the unemployment situation is improving and the employment rate is increasing. The Committee notes that, according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the employment rate among persons aged 15–64 years increased from 67.3 per cent in February 2017 to 69.8 per cent (70.5 per cent for men and 69.2 per cent for women) in February 2018, and the unemployment rate decreased from 9.2 to 8.6 (8.7 per cent for men and 8.6 per cent for women). In their observations, the workers’ organizations highlight the issue of long-term unemployment, indicating that more than 56,000 persons have been unemployed for more than two years, but that no separate allocations for managing long-term unemployment have been made in recent years. The Government notes that the working-age population (15–64 years) has continued to decline since 2010 and that this trend is expected to continue over the next few years. It adds that this will limit the supply of labour, although immigration is providing some compensation. The Government adds that increasing employment among older workers could counteract this trend, but the growth in employment among older workers has decelerated. The Committee notes the adoption of the ninth Europe 2020 National Reform Programme (2017 NRP), presented to the social partners on 11 April 2017. The 2017 NRP calls for specific measures, including reforms in the areas of unemployment security and vocational education and training, the enhancement of employment and business services, regional trials of employment and business services, the promotion of youth employment and the integration of immigrants into the labour market. The Committee further notes that, according to the 2017 European Commission Country Report on Finland, promoting job creation and the integration of those furthest away from the labour market, such as youth not in employment, education or training and non-EU nationals, pose challenges for the Finnish labour market. The Committee notes according to the 2017 NRP report that employment promotion and reform projects are discussed regularly with the social partners. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on the impact of the employment measures taken under its Strategic Programme and the Europe 2020 National Reform Programmes, including measures to address long-term unemployment. The Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which the social partners participate in the formulation, implementation and review of active labour market measures. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on employment trends, disaggregated by age and sex.

Public employment services. In response to the Committee’s previous comments requesting information on the impact of the public employment services reform, the Government refers to the Act on Multisectoral Joint Services for the Promotion of Employment (1369/2014), which entered into force in January 2015. The Act establishes an operating model in which the Regional Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices), local authorities and Social Insurance Institutions (KELA) jointly appraise the service needs of unemployed persons who require multisectoral joint services. The responsibilities of local authorities in the active management of long-term unemployment have been augmented and the requirement that unemployed persons accept a job offer outside their travel-to-work area has also been expanded to cover a wider area. The objectives of the Act include reducing long-term unemployment and cutting public expenditure due to unemployment, improving the service system and developing cooperation between central and local government. The Government indicates that a regional government reform will be introduced in 2020 to harmonize the regional administration, decentralizing the public employment services into autonomous regions (known as counties), which will take over some of the tasks of the Regional Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELC centres) and will replace the TE Offices. In its observations, the EK welcomes the regional government reform, considering that it will contribute to achieving the objectives of the Convention. The EK and the KT report that the cited reform has been prepared in consultation with the social partners. The EK nevertheless maintains that the employment services must improve their response to the labour needs of enterprises and sufficient resources should be allocated for this purpose. In their observations, the workers’ organizations indicate that the resources available to TE Offices have been steadily decreasing. The Government indicates that in 2017, an additional allocation of €17 million was allocated for the recruitment of TE Office staff, the retention of external employment-related services and the development of information systems. An additional €5 million was allocated to engage external services to conduct interviews for unemployed persons at three-month intervals. According to the 2017 NRP report, the objective of these interviews is to accelerate return to work, prevent long-term unemployment, and fill job vacancies rapidly. Finally, the Government refers to a pilot programme implemented from 2012 to 2015 in certain municipalities, targeting the long-term unemployed. The aim of the programme was to identify new labour market integration models based on local partnerships in order to better respond to the needs of jobseekers and the local labour market. An evaluation of the programme concluded that it created new opportunities for cooperation between the central and local governments in employment promotion and resulted in more efficient use of resources. The Government adds that 65 local authorities were involved and 23,000 persons participated in the programme. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated details on the impact of the public employment service reform as well as of the measures implemented by the TE Offices and the counties in contributing to assist workers, particularly the long-term unemployed, in securing full, productive and freely chosen employment.

Education and training programmes. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the measures taken to address the challenge of matching labour market supply with labour demand. In particular, the Government indicates that a joint central government procurement system was introduced in stages in 2016 and 2017 to unify regional practices in labour market training. It adds that the number of persons who commenced training declined from 55,871 in 2014 to 50,003 in 2016. In 2014 and 2016, 39 per cent of participants were still unemployed three months after the training. In addition, as a result of the inflow of immigrants to Finland in 2015, a new model of integration training for immigrants was implemented. The Government refers to the implementation of an intensive orientation module, which provides a more detailed assessment of immigrants’ competence and vocational skills, and provides short-term basic language courses. The Committee notes that the Government Strategic Programme envisages the reform of the vocational education and training system with the aim of reducing skills gaps. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on developments in relation to the vocational education and training reforms and their impact on reducing existing skills gaps. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the social partners participate in the design and implementation of education and training policies and programmes.

Older workers. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the increase in the employment of older workers slowed down from 60 per cent in 2015 to 31.4 per cent in 2016. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government in relation to the impact of the services offered by TE Offices to older workers. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updates on the measures adopted or envisaged to increase the participation of older workers in the labour market and their impact.

Young workers. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the number of young persons registered as unemployed began to decline in June 2016 and that in March 2017, the youth unemployment rate was 20 per cent. Long-term unemployment among young people also decreased in 2017. The Government recalls that the youth unemployment rate in Finland includes full-time students who are looking for part-time work. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Youth Guarantee remains one of the Government’s main responses to youth unemployment. In March 2015, a report was published by the Youth Guarantee working group assessing the impact of the changes implemented and presenting recommendations on how the Youth Guarantee should be further developed. The main recommendations were, among others, that the Youth Guarantee should be a long-term project, early intervention should be at its centre, sufficient resources should be allocated, and all young people should be beneficiaries. The Government indicates that under the Youth Guarantee scheme, 40 one-stop-shop guidance centres for young people under the age of 30 (Ohjaamo centres) were established in more than 100 municipalities to bring service providers together and increase cooperation between administrative bodies. The services provided include face-to-face career guidance, training, and provision of housing, welfare and social services. In 2016, 80,000 young persons used the Ohjaamo services. In their observations, the workers’ organizations highlight that the funding of the Youth Guarantee was reduced from €60 million per year to about €10 million. They also allege that tripartite consultations were abandoned in relation to the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the Youth Guarantee. The Government refers to the Sanssi card, a pay subsidy for those under the age of 30 who are searching for their first job. The Committee observes from the statistical information provided by the Government that the number of people issued a Sanssi card decreased from 37,139 in 2014 to 117 in 2017. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated detailed information on the measures undertaken to promote full, productive, freely chosen and lasting employment for young workers and the impact of such measures.