By the beginning of September 2023, more than 60,000 Ukrainians had applied for temporary protection in Finland. The report offers information on the employment, use of employment services and future plans of Ukrainians as well as the receptiveness of the Finnish society.

In order to thwart the risk of prolonged unemployment, it is important that people who have been unemployed for longer than a year find work quickly. Long-term unemployment is often related to a diagnosis of an illness and lack of education. Education plays a minor role in the employment plans of the long-term unemployed.

The labour market roadmap project provides important information about the problems related to the availability of labour. During the project, employers and employees met in eight sectoral groups to consider proposals for improving the situation. According to them, the transfer of labour from surplus occupations to shortage occupations and from one region to another should be speedier and the services for people moving to work in Finland could be improved. 

Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen will visit Berlin from 31 May to 2 June. The visit will focus on employment services, their transfer to the local level and the ways to attract international workforce. During the trip, Haatainen will meet Germany’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs as well as members of Parliament’s Committee on Labour and Social Affairs.

The reform would give unemployed jobseekers quicker and more intensive support for their job search. The Government submitted a proposal on the Nordic labour market service model to Parliament on 7 October 2021. The changes are intended to take effect in May 2022.