Minister of Employment Haatainen: Government spending limit discussion and supplementary budget support the processing of applications and multi-professional services

“In the discussions on spending limits and supplementary budget, we have agreed on measures to improve the services for those in the weakest labour market position. Our main focus is on tackling the acute crisis, but at the same time we are already building the outlook for life after the coronavirus epidemic. Ensuring multi-professional services is important so that the young and long-term unemployed will have access to the services they need even when the rate of unemployment may be higher than at present,” Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen says.

“Multi-professional models, where access to employment, healthcare and social welfare services is provided at the same time according to a person’s individual needs, will be strengthened by the local government trials on boosting employment, increasing mental health services for the young, and including language education in maternity and child health clinic services. The TE Offices will receive EUR 20 million in additional funding to ensure their service capacity.”

Local government trials on boosting employment to start in 2021

The preparation of the local government trials to boost employment continues, and the aim is to start the trials in the beginning of 2021. As from 1 January 2021, the municipalities participating in the trials will be responsible for services targeted to the young, immigrants and long-term unemployed. Bringing together the resources and expertise of the State and local governments meets the growing need for services among both job seekers and businesses.

Because of the trials, additional staff will be hired to the customer service centres producing development and IT services to the TE Offices. Their tasks mainly relate to communications, induction of employees, and systems and user support. The appropriations of the customer service centres for ELY Centres and TE Offices will be increased by a total of EUR 2.2 million in 2021–2022.

Additional funding for Youth Guarantee targeted to Ohjaamo low-threshold services and apprenticeships

The operating expenses of the TE Offices will be increased by a total of EUR 5.4 million for 2021–2022. Of these additional funds, EUR 5 million will be targeted to strengthening the integration, practices and effectiveness of services for the young through Ohjaamo low-threshold activities. A particular focus will be on providing psychosocial support and especially short-term psychotherapy services for the young.

The remaining EUR 400,000 will be used for piloting a new apprenticeship model. The pilot will create a comprehensive model for reaching and coaching young people and for guiding them to apprenticeship training. Young people participating in the pilot will be offered a fixed-term employment relationship concerning apprenticeship training towards a certain part of a degree or a smaller component.

“Short-term psychotherapy has been proven an effective preventive method, which is why we want to extend the local model into a nation-wide service for young people. The need to further develop the apprenticeship system has been known for some time, and it is important that we now also have the money for this,” Minister of Employment says.

Back to work after family leaves

The ‘back to work after family leaves’ extension supports people who return to work after a long absence. The project facilitates the access to employment for those who have been excluded from the labour market for a long time, including immigrant parents. Career coaching would be added to the services offered at maternity and child health clinics, including language, interpretation and child care services.

The measures to be piloted will be funded by increasing the appropriation for public employment and business services by EUR 2 million for 2021 and 2022. For the implementation, the annual operating expenses of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment will be increased by EUR 340,000 for 2021–2022.

In addition, the appropriation of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment will be increased by EUR 1.2 million as from 2021 to enable them to maintain the current resources for immigrant integration.

Additional resources to combat the grey economy

Measures to combat the grey economy will be intensified, as also stated in the Government Programme. A total of EUR 20 million in funding has been reserved for this for the whole electoral term, and in the General Government Fiscal Plan just under EUR 3.4 million of this is now allocated to actors within the administrative branch of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The operating expenses of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office will be increased by EUR 2.35 million for 2021–2022 to improve the publicity of data on businesses. The operating expenses of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be increased by EUR 490,000 for 2021–2022, to be used for studies and surveys concerning the grey economy and for strengthening the resources for legislative and project work. Just over EUR 400,000 will be allocated to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority to ensure access to information within the tendering system.

Cartel enforcement by the Competition and Consumer Authority strengthened

The cartel enforcement by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority will be strengthened as from 2022. To support the identification of cartels, collecting evidence and evaluations, additional investments are made in data analysis during investigations.

Inquiries:
Timo Nevaranta, Special Adviser to the Minister of Employment, tel. +358 29 504 7232
Mika Niemelä, Director of Finance, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 506 2135