Finland underperforms – 640,000 people dropped out of working life
Suomen suuna project: “Productivity has stagnated and, despite the increase in the employment rate, widespread unemployment is high”. 000-dropped-tyoumlelaumlmaumlstauml-df849e1.jpg” alt=”Finland underperforms – 640,000 dropped jobs” />
Illustration image. TE offices offer customers various services that support job search and employment as well as business activities. Tiina Somerpuromika.koskinen@iltalehti.fiYesterday at 2:30 p.m.
Finland is an underperformer compared to its potential, the final report of the Suomen suunta project highlights.
The working group emphasizes two things from the point of view of the national economy central theme: improving the productivity of the private and public sector and securing the availability of labor.
– The former is a prerequisite for raising the standard of living and curbing public spending pressures, and the latter is key to the growth of the economy and the tax base, as well as companies' willingness to invest.
Wide unemployment high
Far too large a proportion of Finns of working age do not go to work.
The working group highlights Finland's miserable figures. Despite the increase in the employment rate, widespread unemployment – which consists of the unemployed and those undergoing procedures – is very high. According to the Ministry of Labor and the Economy (TEM), broad unemployment was 372,100 people in February.
Broad unemployment was 14.1 percent in February, while Finland's official unemployment rate (trend) calculated by Statistics Finland was 6.8.
There are 140,000 people surfing outside the labor force. This group consists of people who do not apply, do not work, and are not in education or training.
There are also a large number of people on the disability pension, a total of 130,000 people.
These three groups make up a huge group of 642,100 people who live on the support of society.
We suffer from a labor shortage
At the same time as there are many unemployed, employers about 75 percent experience problems with labor availability. The problem is experienced in almost all industries and everywhere in Finland. There are a record number of vacancies and it takes an average of 70 days to fill them.
According to the estimate made by TEM, approximately 130,000 employment relationships have not been created due to the labor availability problem.
Labor availability problems are due to the labor shortage problem and the labor shortage, according to the working group. The supply problem means that there are unemployed job seekers who are suitable for the jobs, but no employment relationships are created.
A labor shortage means that unemployed job seekers do not have the skills and qualifications required in the workplace.
– Currently, there are around 140,000 people among the unemployed jobseekers who do not have sufficient education or have acquired professional skills in a field where there are no longer any jobs available, the report states.
The cost to society of a lost working career can be computationally determines, for example, in the case of a low-paid person.
– The cost is approximately two million euros on average. If there are, for example, 100,000 of these people, the loss to society is around 200 billion euros. Considering the size of the loss, all measures that promote employment, which can be used to avoid exclusion from the working career, are therefore justifiable.
Education goal for new
The coordination group outlines, among other things, that the next government must set an education level goal so that the skills and education level of working-age people rises, taking into account the needs of the labor market. The share of Finnish graduates aged 25–34 with a higher education must rise close to the current top level of the OECD countries by 2040.
According to the coordination group, labor immigration must be increased and skills acquired abroad must be recognized and recognized, and qualification paths must be developed. By consolidating the training paths and digitalizing Valvira's legalization procedure for tasks in the social security sector, it would be possible to qualify quickly and at reasonable costs.
According to the coordination group, the greatest potential in increasing the employment rate and improving the availability of labor is in poorly employed groups, such as the partially able-bodied, young people and those over 55.
To improve this, the coordination group outlines several actions, such as increasing the profitability of work for the partially able-bodied by arranging combined earnings and benefits.
Productivity stagnates
Productivity has stagnated in Finland.
– This is partly due to the aging of the population, which shrinks the working-age population and increases age-related public expenditures. In recent years, growth was also weakened by, among other things, problems with the ICT cluster and Nokia in particular, the decline in paper production and the contraction of exports to the East, the report states.
Compared to Sweden, a significant problem is that the production and export of digital services have not increased sufficiently.
– In addition, investments have been low for a long time, and they have been focused too much on construction investments and too little on intangible capital, the report states.
The problem is also the drop in the level of education compared to comparison countries.
READ ALSO
What is the direction of Finland project?
– Minister of Labor Tuula Haatainen(sd) invited the leaders of the central labor market organizations to the Suomen suuna project to consider solutions for the upcoming election period to strengthen productivity and labor availability.
– Chairman Jarkko Eloranta has served as members of the coordination group led by economic influencer Sixten Korkman. > (SAK), managing director Jyri Häkämies (EK), managing director Markku Jalonen (KT), chairman Maria Löfgren (Akava) and chairman Antti Palola (STTK) and Undersecretary of State Elina Pylkkänen(TEM) and working life professor Martti Hetemäki (HGSE)..
– In the final report, the coordination group presents its proposals for improving productivity and workforce availability.
– In order to accelerate Finland's economic growth, the coordination group aligns its policy recommendations under eight themes: innovation policy training and skills, digitalization, immigration and integration, economic structure change, public sector productivity, well-being at work and ability to work, and supporting the employment of the partially-abled, young people and over 55
Source: TEM
What kind of work interests educated young people? Marko Simoinen
Here are the parties' concrete means of employment: "Let it be a cut then” 27.3. 20:37
