TE services reform 2024
In its mid-term policy review in spring 2021, the Government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin decided that employment and economic development services (TE services) would be transferred to municipalities. The policy is related to the Government Programme’s employment objective and the increase in municipal responsibility for employment services.
The reform aims to create a service structure that will contribute to rapid employment of jobseekers and increase the productivity, availability, effectiveness and diversity of employment and business services.
Why will TE services transfer to municipalities?
The transfer of TE services to municipalities brings them closer to customers. Transferring the responsibility for employment, municipal education and business services to one organiser promotes the objective of faster employment. Municipalities are in a good position to offer targeted and tailored services that meet the needs of customers and local labour markets.
In connection with the transfer, a funding model will be created for municipalities to develop their employment promotion activities in order to increase employment by 7,000–10,000 people.
The reform will take into account equal access to services. It will also safeguard linguistic rights and services for those in a weaker labour market position.
In addition to the transfer of TE services, the Government is also preparing a number of other reforms to improve the services of jobseekers and promote employment. A combination of these reforms will create a positive employment impact.
Read more about the Government’s employment reforms under the current projects of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Content and timetable of the reform of TE services
The reform consists of the following parts:
- Responsibility of municipalities to organise services
- Elements of incentive funding
- Services to be transferred
- Central government tasks and steering
- Information systems
- Personnel and change management
Ministries, TE services, ELY Centres, KEHA Centre, municipalities and other stakeholders have prepared the transfer of TE services together. As preparations have continued, the Ministerial Working Group on Promoting Employment has outlined more policies.
The Government's legislative proposal was adopted by the Parliament on 1 March 23. The transfer of TE services to the municipalities will take place on 1 January 2022.
Ministerial Working Group on Promoting Employment
A diverse group of stakeholders prepare the reform implementation
Preparations for the implementation phase of the reform are well under way. The implementation programme will be prepared by an extensive network that includes representatives of all key operators and stakeholders involved in the reform as well as personnel representatives. The programme is due to be completed by April 2023, after which it will be implemented in practice.
The programme defines how the state steering and support for the implementation will be organised and how national preparation will be coordinated by topic. In addition, it describes the procedures for implementing the change, such as transfer of business, training of government and municipal personnel, regional preparation (where municipalities are in charge), key interfaces incl. those related to wellbeing services counties, as well as implementation schedules. The programme aims to utilise tried and tested practices and lessons learned from local government pilots on employment and the working capacity programme.
The objective is a controlled transition, which means that all key functions and services of the employment authorities are ready when the responsibility for organising services is transferred to municipalities and employment areas on 1 January 2025.
Inquiries: Tanja Ståhlberg