Brand group: Good working life a competitiveness factor for Finland
Finnish working life is in many ways among the tops in the world. As stated in the report of the brand group, good working life should be turned into a competitive factor for Finland to attract foreign investments and experts and promote the exports of Finnish companies.
The report Good working life as Finland’s competitiveness factor of the working life brand group of the Working Life 2020 project coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment was published on 12 January 2017. The key proposal is that a strong brand should be constructed around the Finnish working life. The aim is to support economic growth in Finland, promote Finland’s success in international cooperation and showcase Finland as a model and inspiration for others.
According to international statistics, studies and comparisons, Finnish working life possesses various kinds of quite unique strengths. This is known, but so far it has not been systematically used as a competitiveness factor.
The Finnish working life brand is constructed upon three claims. The group has written a narrative in support of each claim, based on the information we have on Finnish working life in international statistics and studies. The first claim is that Finnish working life represents the strongest expertise in the world.
– The basic skills of Finnish adults are among the tops in the world. The same applies to the ability of the citizens to use digital communication tools and information networks. Finland is the leading country in Europe in how active the employees are in educating and training their employees, says Tuomo Alasoini, Chief Adviser at the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Tekes who headed the brand group.
The second claim is that Finnish working life represents the most advanced cooperation in the world. Finnish companies cooperate with each other more than companies anywhere else in the world. The daily working hours are also the most flexible. This is enabled by the trust among the people, which is the strongest in Europe.
According to the third claim, Finnish working life represents the safest environment in the world. Finland is among the world leaders in property protection, efficiency of the legal system, internal security and functioning national institutions. Nowhere else in the world are equal opportunities for men and women to participate in working life realised as well as they are in Finland.
In accordance with the proposal, working life should be included as a key element in the communication on our country brand by incorporating the efforts to strengthen the working life brand into the activities of the Team Finland network. The group also proposes that the awareness of the Finns of the working life in our country and how it can be further improved should be systematically promoted in cooperation between the Association for Finnish Work, ministries and labour market organisations.
The report Good working life as Finland’s competitiveness factor of the working life brand group is available on the internet at tem.fi/en/publications
Inquiries:
Tuomo Alasoini, Chief Adviser, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Tekes, tel. +358 29 505 5940, tuomo.alasoini(at)tekes.fi
Margita Klemetti, Project Manager, Working Life 2020 project, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 7032, margita.klemetti(at)tem.fi
http://www.tyoelama2020.fi/en