3.11 Current debates and reforms
On this page
On this page
Forthcoming policy developments
The new government programme for the years 2023-2027 – i.e. the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government (published on 20.6.2023) – names a long-term employment policy objective: ‘In order to improve the standard of living of Finnish people, accelerate sustainable growth and secure the financing base for the services of the welfare society, the Government aims to achieve an employment rate of 80 per cent by 2031. Efforts will also be made to increase the number of hours worked.’
In a shorter term the Government will ‘implement reforms to increase employment by at least 100,000 employed people.’ The programme also mentions that ‘the aim of this growth in employment is to strengthen general government finances by more than EUR 2 billion. In order to achieve its objectives, the government will implement a wide range of reforms to improve incentives to work, simplify the social security system, facilitate employment and provision of work, develop international recruitment, increase local bargaining in the labour market, improve wellbeing at work and the integration of work and family, and continue the reform of employment services.’ How this will affect young people still needs specification. The new government programme mentions young people in the context of employment policy only shortly, and as such: ‘Young people under 30 years of age will be quickly referred to employment services. At the same time, sufficient services and personal encounters will be ensured.’
Ongoing debates
During Spring 2024, there has been discussion about the difficulties that young people or, for example immigrants who have finished their Finnish degrees, have expressed they have in searching for a job in Finland. In the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, after several articles where young people were telling about those difficulties, a column (2.3.2024) written by journalist Roosa Welling was titled as ‘It is too difficult to get a cinema cashier job’ (in Finnish). According to her, to receive a job is often so difficult that a young person applying for their first job might get discouraged. Based on the column, which reflected on earlier articles about the same theme, there are several shortcomings, such as even quite simple jobs having a manifold applicating process, and having so many applications that the employers do not read all of them, thereby not responding to the applicants. In the piece of news of the National Broadcasting Company (YLE) ‘200 applications and 3 interviews: Foreign grads struggle to get jobs’ (8.1.2024). The article describes how ‘work-based immigration is growing, but at the same time educated people in their prime are leaving Finland over a lack of career prospects.’