Consultation on opportunities to increase location independent work to be held in Oulu on 20 January

An event to discuss the possibilities of increasing multi-location and location-independent work will be held in Oulu on Monday, 20 January 2020. The rapporteur Tytti Määttä will organise the consultation as part of a study the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment commissioned in August. The purpose of the study is to assess the regional presence of public services falling within the purview of the Minister of Economic Affairs.

At the event, the rapporteur will share with the personnel and stakeholders of the target organisations her mid-term observations based on extensive interviews and surveys. There will also be an opportunity for the organisations and stakeholders to express their views and to discuss the objectives further with rapporteur Määttä. The event will be available as webcast. The event will be hosted by Kimmo Tiilikainen, chair of the steering group that commissioned the study and State Secretary to Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

“Before multi-location and location-independent work can be implemented more extensively, management needs to set common ground rules. Other key issues to be addressed include work practices, communication methods, employee availability and the measurement of quality and results,” Tytti Määttä says, sharing her mid-term observations.

In her opinion, there is significant potential for strengthening regional presence throughout Finland in the central government administration within the purview of the Minister of Economic Affairs and in the sector’s organisations.

“Being able to better identify regional opportunities is essential to ensure the most effective implementation of regional presence,” Määttä concludes. Her report will be published in late March.

The Government Programme of Sanna Marin strongly highlights the need to improve the vitality of regions and to tap into the opportunities of location-independent and multi-location work. A reform of the legislation on regionalisation is currently under way under the leadership of Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero. The legislative work will be based on a regionalisation strategy to be drawn up in a project initiated by the Ministry of Finance.

To meet the objectives, the study launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance’s project.

Määttä’s report applies to organisations under the Minister of Economic Affairs

The Minister of Economic Affairs has responsibility for some tasks in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and in ELY Centres, as well as in the following organisations and companies in the Ministry’s administrative sector: Energy Authority, the Innovation Funding Agency Business Finland and Business Finland Oy, Geological Survey of Finland, Finnvera Oy, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. These organisations employ some 3,700 people in total.

Määttä’s work is supported by a steering group consisting of representatives from the target organisations and the Ministry of Finance, Office for the Government as Employer, Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors, Public Sector Negotiating Commission JUKO ry, and Trade Union Pro. The group is chaired by State Secretary Kimmo Tiilikainen and vice chaired by Timo Reina from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

Inquiries:

Rapporteur Tytti Määttä, Mayor of Kuhmo, tel. +358 44 7255 220
Kimmo Tiilikainen, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 511 174