Improvement of jobseeker services
Labour administration services must be adapted to the needs of jobseekers, with greater efficiency in services that promote working capacity. The labour market status of immigrants must be improved.
ON THIS PAGE
Labour administration services must be adapted to the needs of jobseekers
Slightly differing services are available for various jobseeker and age groups. The system is complex and fails to give labour administration specialists adequate opportunities for reflection when seeking to promote the employment of a jobseeker in the manner best suited to the individual. This would nevertheless be the most effective way to promote employment.
Achieving the objective
- We must develop a simple jobseeker services model based on features of the individual, in which a labour administration specialist considers the needs of the local labour market and the capacities of the jobseeker, and determines the content of service provision accordingly.
- Local and inter-municipal employment and skills ecosystems must be constructed on a sufficiently large regional employment base as labour administration services are transferred to municipalities.
- More attention must be paid to developing the skills of jobseekers and expanding opportunities for learning.
Why is this objective important?
Even though current employment services are based on individual support for the jobseeker, the pursuit of this essentially laudable aim is too dependent on a one-size-fits-all model. Labour administration specialists should be empowered to adapt individual jobseeker services into the kind of package that optimises the conditions for employment. This will enable specialists to devote more time to serving jobseekers who require special support in securing employment.
Effective promotion of employment requires not only labour market policy, but also a wide range of measures and policies (for example relating to business, education, housing and transport). A large city or a joint municipal area is best placed to combine the necessary policy areas into a functioning employment-promoting ecosystem providing a diverse range of services close to residents.
A sufficiently broad employment base is important, as it enables services to be delivered in an economically and efficiently scalable way. A municipality or joint municipal area would ideally be able to serve jobseekers extensively on a one-stop-shop basis.
Jobseekers must remain available to the labour market by participating in employment services and actively seeking work. Nobody loses out if they also want to study in addition to this. Employment is most effectively promoted by abolishing assessments of whether studies other than those that clearly lead to a qualification are a principal or secondary activity affecting eligibility for unemployment benefit.
Working capacity services and rehabilitation must be made more effective for career support
Prolonging working careers and making use of even partial working capacity boosts employment, improves livelihoods and accrued social insurance benefits, and prevents retirement poverty. Everyone of working age must have access to working capacity services and multidisciplinary rehabilitation services promptly and according to individual need. This will require close cooperation between social services and health care, employment services and education services.
Achieving the objective
- TServices for the unemployed must accommodate working and functional capacity, with clients referred for medical examinations or rehabilitation as necessary.
- Work must continue to achieve the objectives of the working capacity programme, and its client groups must be expanded from the wholly unemployed to include individuals in need of support for their working capacity who are not covered by occupational health care.
- Training must form a larger proportion of vocational rehabilitation that also accommodates the threat of losing working capacity, and employment opportunities. Completion of vocational qualification modules and smaller qualification components must be promoted as a rehabilitation measure.
- More detailed provisions must be included in the Health Care Act regarding working capacity support measures and assessment of the need for rehabilitation in wellbeing services counties, and cooperation with other stakeholders.
- Potential modification or abolition of multi-channel health care financing cannot be reliably assessed until the operations of wellbeing services counties are established and maintenance of rehabilitation quality and resourcing can be ensured.
Why is this objective important?
The working capacity programme seeks to improve the working capacity of individuals with partial working capacity, and to promote employment. Training as a means of rehabilitation has also become more important with the increasing demands of the world of work.
Long-term unemployment and other career interruptions cause poverty in retirement, so development of the world of work and enhancement of services provided by various stakeholders are very important measures.
Multi-channel financing refers in practice to health insurance provided by the Social insurance Institution (KELA), which covers all permanent residents of Finland. This insurance pays compensation for various outlays, including prescription medications, private health care and rehabilitation. Problems would arise with all of these, including occupational health care services, if multi-channel financing was abolished.
Supply and demand must be more effectively matched in the labour market
The labour market mismatch and labour shortages cannot be resolved solely through work-related immigration. Measures will include improving employment services and facilitating relocation for employment.
Achieving the objective
- The provision of short-term vocational studies for employees both in and out of work must be increased.
- Employee skills must be improved through such measures as continuous learning, on-the-job learning at workplaces, and developing skills that are the responsibility of the employer.
- Measures to support relocation for employment must include affordable housing and public transport, a cut in conveyancing tax, mobility allowances and tax deductibility of travel costs.
- The quality of public employment services must be improved.
- Proactive jobseeking training must be included in secondary level vocational studies.
- Terms and conditions of employment and working conditions must be improved, particularly in sectors where there are labour shortages.
- Provision of information must be improved to meet the needs and training requirements of the workforce.
Why is this objective important?
Jobseekers and jobs do not always come together. Studies suggest that there is room for improvement in such areas as recruitment practices, and in public employment services and employment agencies.
To resolve the labour market mismatch, we need short and long-term proactive information on labour requirements indicating the occupations and regions that will require staff and how much labour will be needed in future, including workers from abroad. We must also improve our ability to anticipate the kind of training and expertise that will be in demand.
It is important to investigate the extent to which problems of labour availability are due to a genuine shortage of labour, and not to such factors as poor pay and working conditions.
There is much room for improvement in recruitment processes
Regular, researched information is needed on the causes of recruitment problems. A thematic study commissioned by SAK in spring 2022 investigated the causes of employment problems from the employee perspective. One key finding was that jobseeking has become too difficult for many workers.
Complex jobseeking processes even eliminate applicants with adequate skills to fill a vacancy. Requirements set out in job advertisements were considered high, and did not always correspond to the actual content of the job. Job vacancy notices may also be so difficult to interpret that the applicant fails to understand the skills required for the job. They may exclude important details, such as the terms and conditions of employment.
Older employees in particular were keen to have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and approach to work. The means of jobseeking may be unfamiliar, even among those with the skills required for the work itself. Others expressed the wish for entry positions suitable for those with less work experience, with the workplace investing in orientation and training.
Further details of this study in Finnish may be found online via this link.
The quality of vacant positions is often poor
When discussing a labour shortage, it is important to ask what kind of employment is unpopular among employees. Are we speaking of part-time work or working on commission? Are the positions of short duration or offered in the form of agency work? Can the employee manage on the pay rates offered? The quality of job vacancies is evident from online employment services that enable searches for open positions on various criteria. The study reveals that less than half of the vacancies are for full-time work, and that many of them do not offer an adequate livelihood.
The labour market status of immigrants must be improved
Many factors make it difficult for immigrants to find employment. The main problem is not generally one of competence, but language skills and recognition of competence.
Achieving the objective
- Immigrants already living in Finland must be brought into the world of work by improving the quality and effectiveness of language and integration training.
- Work-related immigrants and international students must also have access to language training and integration services.
- The mechanisms and services required for identifying competence and recognising qualifications must be made fit for purpose.
Why is this objective important?
The employment rate of immigrants is low, especially in the case of those who arrived as refugees. Poor language skills are the greatest obstacle to their employment.
The process of recognising qualifications completed abroad remains slow and dysfunctional. Labour shortage sectors are mostly regulated occupations that require recognition of qualifications earned and official status secured in third countries.