Living and Working in Finland Employment and Economic Development Office of Jyväskylä, Finland

Finnish labour market  72 % of employees work under a permanent full time contract  Some 15 % of employees work under a fixed-term contract  Some 12 % of employees have part-time contract  1-2 % of employees work as temporary agency workers  Women generally participate in the labour market, their employment rate being 71 %  About 70 % of the population has a vocational education Upper secondary school level qualifications 39 % Higher educations (University of Applied Sciences or University) 28 % Source: Statistics Finland 7/2012

Employment and unemployment in July 2012  Labour shortages and unemployment commonly occur simultaneously in the Finnish labour market  Employment rate 72,7 %  Unemployment rate 10,2 % Espoo 6,9Turku 14,6 Helsinki 8,9Oulu 15,4 Vantaa 9,3Tampere 14,2 Kuopio 11,3Lahti 15,1 Jyväskylä 14,2

Regional labour market situation (2011)

Labour shortages most problematic sectors: health care and services TOP 10 shortages in May 2012  registered nurses  laboratory nurses, radiographers  medical doctors  social workers  social welfare workers, personal assistants  nursery school teachers  special education teachers  cleaners  sales representatives and telemarketers  accounting staff Source: Occupational barometer, Ministry of Employment and the Economy

Enough unemployed in May 2012  unskilled jobseekers (no education, no experience)  construction workers without vocational education  industrial workers without vocational education  telecommunications engineers  IT operators and IT support persons  assemblers of electric and electronic products  tailors, dressmakers  artists (visual arts)  office workers  travel agents, guides Source: Occupational barometer, Ministry of Employment and the Economy

 National labour administration: ”Avoimet työpaikat” (vacancies) > under ”Maakunta” select the last option ”Koko Suomi” (whole Finland) > ”sanahaku” (keyword) > write ”English”> push enterwww.mol.fi  EURES Portal:  Academic recruitment services:  Companies often recruit through their own internet sites. Typical address is:  List of 100 largest Finnish companies:  Vacancies in the largest newspapers  Private recruitment agencies e.g The national helpline Työlinja Mo-Fri between 8-18: Personal advice about work, jobs and labour market. Searching for a job

 Collective agreements (ca. 160) specifying pay rates for various sectors like Commercial sector, Construction industry, Hotel and restaurant industry, Financial sector etc.  If there is no collective agreement (e.g. domestic helpers), the salary should be at least €/month (in 2012)  More information about labor legislation: Ask for the employment contract in written form! Terms of Employment

 Regular working hours are usually at most 8 hours daily and 40 hours weekly, but in collective agreements it has been negotiated down to an average of 37,5 hours  Overtime is compensated with a higher rate of pay and there are limitations on overtime: it’s allowed to do maximum 138 hours of overtime during each four-month period and during a calender year a maximum of 250 hours  Annual holiday is at least 4 weeks (when the employment has lasted up to a year) and 5 weeks (when the job has continued over a year)  There are an average 9 paid national holidays a year

Some 68 % of workers belong to a trade union The central federations are: I.The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK (industries, transport, private service industries) II.The Finnish Confederation of salaried Employees STTK (white-collar employees, service sector and industries) III.The Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals in Finland AKAVA

 Engineer – € / month  Carpenter – € / month  Secretary – € / month  Bus driver € / month  Cleaner – 2 400€ / month  Market seller – € /month  Nurse – € / month  Social worker € / month An average Finnish salary 3190 €/month (January 2012) Source: Statistics Finland Examples of gross incomes

Income tax:  Up to 6 months: tax at source 35% NB! Tax deduction of 510 € each month or 17 € per day for each working day  More than 6 months: progressive income tax including:  Social security payments 7,9 %  Members of the Finnish Lutheran/ Orthodox church pay a church tax 1 – 2,15%  Local taxes vary from one city/municipality to the other  For example the share of all taxes and compulsory contributions salary 2500 €/month = 25 %, 3000 €/month = 29 % More information about taxation: Taxation

 Documents concerning work and education history required  U1/E301-form (transferring work history from other EU/EEA -countries) I.The Unemployment allowance (employment condition 34 weeks, ~ 8 months work in last 28 months) a)Basic allowance (paid by The Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela) b)Earnings-related (unemployment funds, e.g ) II.The Labour market subsidy  If you haven’t got enough work history  Benefit for a single person gross 31,36 €/day (in 2012) (basic allowance and labour market subsidy) (earnings-related) Finnish unemployment benefits

In order to be able to register as a jobseeker you must have: - a residence permit A or P (continuous or permanent) or - a residence permit B or an EU/EEA-citizenship. With B-permit you are not entitled to unemployment benefits. Registration for B-permit holders is recommended: - at the last stage of your studies (e.g. in last year) or - when you speak Finnish well. Without any registration you can get these services at our Recruitment centre 1. floor: - help in creating CVs and applications by appointment - information on educational possibilities. Services of Employment Office for foreigners

If you have “Full Rights” for services you can get: (Kela has issued you a decision on your right for Finnish social security benefits) - Unemployment benefits - Vocational counselling (career planning) - Labour market training + job seeking training - Special services for disabled (occupational rehabilitation) - Subsidized placement and traineeships - Subsidy for job seeking travels in Finland - Start-up grant for setting up a business

Jyväskylä Employment and Economic Development Office (TE-Office) Vapaudenkatu 58 A Open daily at 9.00–15.45  EURES services, 1. floor  Immigrant services, 3. floor (Open at )