Living and Working in Finland Information for an EU Jobseeker

IOLAVORO 9-10 OTTOBRE, Torino Employment and Economic Development Office of Hämeenlinna Region, Finland Updated in September 2009

Living and Working in Finland

Contents

       Introduction Labour market situation Searching for a job Training and studying Moving to Finland Living and working conditions Where to find further information

Introduction

- 5,3 million inhabitants - parliamentary republic since 1917 - neighbouring countries: Sweden, Norway, Russia, Estonia - two official languages: Finnish (92%) and Swedish (5,5%) - religions: Evangelical-Lutherans (80,6%), Orthodoxs (1,1%) (2008) - member of the EU since 1995 - foreign citizens 2,7% (mainly in Helsinki metropolitan area) (2008) - currency: Euro

Employed persons by sector

2nd quarter 2009

Agriculture and forestry (5%) 12 % 27 % Industry (16%) 5 % Construction (7%) 7 % 10 % 7 % 16 % Trade and hotel (16%) Transport and communication (10%) Financial and business services (7%) Public services (27%) Other services (12%) 16 %

Source: Statistics Finland

Characteristics of the Finnish labour market

      76% of employees work under a permanent full time contract Some 15% of employees work under a fixed-term contract, c. two thirds of these are women Women generally participate in the labour market, their employment rate being 68,5 %. Women are also mainly full-time employees. 21 % of jobs are part-time Some 75% of workers belong to a trade union Labour shortages and unemployment commonly occur simultaneously in the Finnish labour market Source: Statistics Finland 2009/08

Characteristics of the Finnish labour market Employment and unemployment in August 2009

    Number of employed persons 95,000 less than one year earlier Employment rate 68,7% (OECD/ILO definition) Unemployment rate 7,6%, 203 000 unemployed (OECD/ILO definition) 32 000 new vacancies at employment offices (08/2009) Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland

Regional labour market situation (2008)

Unemployment rate in Finland, in EU and in the certain industrial countries , % 14 12 10 8 6 20 Standardised Unemployment rates, Seasonally adjusted 18 16 4 2 0 1990 1992 2 2 .9 .2 0 0 9 /ty o t1 3 /TEM 1994 Source: OECD, Eurostat 1996 1998 2000 Finland EU USA Japan 2002 2004 2006 2008

Labour shortages

most problematic sectors: health care and services TOP 10 Shortages (May 2009) - registered nurse - practical nurse - hairdresser/barber - cleaner - waitress - cook/chef - sales agent - taxi driver - sales representative - telesales person

Foreigners in Finland

  2,7 % of the population are foreigners (143 200) Biggest nationality groups are Russians (26 900), Estonians   (22 500), Swedes (8 500) and Somalis (4 900) The sectors with most foreign workers are agriculture & forestry, industry and construction 35 000 unemployed foreigners

30000

Foreigners in Finland Biggest nationality groups

(31.12.2008)

26900 25000 22500 20000 15000 10000 8500 5000 4900 4500 3900 3500 3400 3200 0 Russia Estonia Sweden Somalia China Thailand Germany Turkey Great Britain 3200 Iraq

Lähde: Väestötietojärjestelmä

Searching for a job

       National labour administration: www.mol.fi

EURES Portal: http://eures.europa.eu

Academic recruitment services: www.aarresaari.net

Companies often recruit through their own internet sites. Typical address is: www.companyname.fi

List of 100 largest Finnish companies: www.uranus.fi

Vacancies in the largest newspapers www.oikotie.fi

Private recruitment agencies e.g. www.manpower.fi

, www.adecco.fi

, www.barona.fi

, www.staffpoint.fi

Direct contact with employers!

Standard application procedures

      CV and application letter - possibly also copies of school leaving certificates and references examples of CVs: http://europass.europa.eu

employers usually choose 3 to 5 applicants to be interviewed certificates and references will be studied closely for demanding posts usually 2 to 3 interviews will be conducted; possible also an aptitude test some employers make only the final selection - the rest of the recruitment process may be outsourced

Practical training and studying

    many practical training opportunities for international students and recent graduates in Finland Centre for International Mobility (CIMO) organizes many of the practical training programmes - see also student organisations like ELSA, IAAS, IFMSA, AIESEC Master Thesis/ Thesis co-operation available degree studying (Bachelor’s or Master’s degree) is free of charge 

More information:

CIMO - Centre for International Mobility www.studyinfinland.fi

International student mobility

    Finland has 20 universities and 30 polytechnics over 400 study programmes are taught in English in Finnish higher education ERASMUS student mobility in academic year 2007-2008: appr. 6400 foreign students to Finland, mostly from Germany (1080), France (880), Spain (760), Poland (482) and Italy (394) Finland was one of the most popular destination countries for exchange students (7 th among 31 countries)

Recognition of qualifications

Finnish National Board of Education (OPH)

   Contact before coming to Finland recognition required for posts in public sector not required for private sector, unless the profession in question is regulated (e.g. electricians, pilots)    Right to practise profession needed for the following professions: health care professionals, veterinary surgeons, chartered public finance auditors, chartered accountants, advocates, seafarers Different authorities grant the right More information: www.oph.fi/info/recognition

Moving to Finland - First steps

     EU registration at the local police: www.poliisi.fi

Population register and home municipality at the magistrate/registration office: www.maistraatti.fi

Social security at the local social insurance office: www.kela.fi

If employed: Tax card at the local tax office www.vero.fi

If unemployed: Employment office www.mol.fi

Transferring unemployment benefits / E 303 -form

    Contact your employment office in your home country well before your departure to Finland and ask for the E 303 -form Register at the employment office in Finland within 7 days on your arrival and show the E 303 -form (the employment office signs the form) Hand out the form to the Kela office Open a bank account

Finnish unemployment benefits

      Documents concerning work and education history E 301- form 1) The unemployment allowance (employment condition 10 months)   Basic allowance (social insurance, Kela) Earnings-related (unemployment funds, e.g 2) The labour market subsidy www.ytk.fi

  Integration assistance to immigrants For a single person: 25,63 €/day (in 2009) www.kela.fi

(basic allowance and labour market subsidy) www.tyj.fi

(earnings-related) )

Terms of Employment

    Collective agreements specifying pay rates for various sectors If there is no collective agreement (e.g. domestic helpers), the salary should be at least 1.019 €/month (in 2009) Regular working hours are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, with two days' leave per calendar month worked More information: www.tyosuojelu.fi

, www.mol.fi/finnwork Ask for the employment contract in written form!

Examples of gross incomes

  Private sector (2008):  IT Programmer 3 661 € / month    Truck driver 2 449 € / month Public sector (2008):  Carpenter 2 500 € / month Hairdresser/Barber 1 967 € / month Cleaner 1 762 € / month    Class teacher 3 060 € /month Nurse 2 688 € / month Librarian 2 308 € / month An average Finnish salary 2 862 €/month (2008, 4th quarter) Source: Statistics Finland

Taxation

   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 Average Finnish salary 2 862 €/month (34 344 €/year): the share of taxes and compulsory contributions is between 21 and 26.5 %* More information: www.vero.fi

* local taxes vary from one city/municipality to the other; in addition, members of the Finnish Lutheran/ Orthodox church pay a church tax (1 – 2,25%)

Accommodation Where to look for?

       Internet portals: www.oikotie.fi

, www.etuovi.com

Yellow pages: www.keltaisetsivut.fi

Private companies: e.g. www.sato.fi

, www.yh.fi

Newspapers: www.sanomalehdet.fi

Information about housing in Finland: www.housing.fi

Municipalities in Finland: www.kunnat.net

Youth hostels: www.srmnet.org

Accommodation How much will it cost?

   Average rent for a two room flat (50 m2): 400 – 700 €/month Average price for a two room flat: 80 000 – 120 000 € In Helsinki metropolitan area the prices are considerably higher, in the countryside considerably lower

Further information:

    Information of living and working, vacancies: http://eures.europa.eu

Detailed information for foreign workers: www.mol.fi/finnwork , www.infopankki.fi

Studying and practical training: www.studyinfinland.fi

General information: http://virtual.finland.fi

Welcome to Finland!