Employment and Economic Development Office

Living and Working in Finland

Employment and Economic Development Office Joensuu Vaasa

Employment and Economic Development Office

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

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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 (81,8%), Orthodoxs (1,1%) - member of the EU since 1995 - currency: Euro

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Economic structure

Employed persons by industry

5 % 7 % Miscellaneous services 7 % 14 % Industry Trade and hotel Financial and business services 16 % 32 % Agriculture and forestry Transport and communications Construction 19 %

Industry (19%) consists of metal and engineering products (48%), forest products (16%), consumer goods (11%) & other manufactured items (25%) Source: Statistics Finland

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Characteristics of the Finnish labour market

  75% of employees work under a permanent full time contract Some 15% of employees work under a fixed-term contract and only 10% of all job are part-time  Women generally participate in the labour market, their employment rate being about 71%.  Some 75% of workers belong to a trade union Source: Statistics Finland

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Characteristics of the Finnish labour market

Employment and unemployment in March 2009

  Number of employed persons is 37 000 less than one year earlier Employment rate 68,1% (0,9% less than one year earlier)  Unemployment rate is 9.5% - 7.6% last year  45 000 new vacancies (March 2009) at employment offices, 8000 less than March 2008 Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland

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

 55 000 persons have been laid off/5 000 have been given notice/fired  Unemployment occurs especially in the fields of (export) industry and construction.

 The service sector as well as social and health care sector has no affects – they are recruiting even more employees. Source: Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland

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Regional labour market situation

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International recruitments

    the EU enlargement in 2004 and the growing recruitment problems activated the international recruitment cooperation still only about 2% of the Finnish employers looked for the foreign workforce in 2006 foreign workers are mainly recruited from Estonia, Poland and Russia the ageing of the work force affects already on the offer, but especially after 2010 - most urgently in care work and in services

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Labour shortages

   Recruitment problems are increasing as employees retire from the working life (the baby boomers generation in the late 1940’s) Problems occur mostly in Helsinki metropolitan area and other larger cities Most problematic fields: health care, hotel and catering, services TOP 5 Shortages (February 2009) 1. doctor 4. cleaner 2. nurse 3. practical nurse 5. cook/chef 6. hairdresser/barber

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Summer Jobs

          Nurses Practical nurses Shop and market sale persons Telephone salespersons ”Berry pickers” Cooks/chefs Restaurant service workers Waiters/waitresses Au pairs Cleaners

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Worker’s residence permits

   The citizens of countries outside the EEA in most cases need a worker’s residence permit for work in Finland. The permit is either temporary or continuous. The application for the worker’s residence permit can be made by either the worker or by the employer.  There are some tasks/brances where one can work without worker’s residence permit: BERRY PICKERS – max. 3 months time - Visa from the Finnish Embassy still needed

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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!

Language skills requirements

 Finnish usually required, in some areas Swedish • In English may manage for example: seasonal gardening, berry picking, kitchen work IT, engineering, international business, research

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Standard application procedures

     CV and application letter – by email examples of CVs: http://europass.europa.eu

employers usually choose 3 to 5 applicants to be interviewed 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

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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  More information: CIMO - Centre for International Mobility www.studyinfinland.fi

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International student mobility

 Finland has 20 universities and 30 polytechnics   Finland was one of the most popular destination countries for exchange students (8 th among 31 countries) - University of Helsinki received nearly 500 students alone  In English over 400 study programmes in higher education degree studying (Bachelor’s or Master’s degree) is free of charge

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Recognition of qualifications

Finnish National Board of Education (OPH)

www.oph.fi/info/recognition  recognition required for posts in public sector, not required for private sector, unless the profession is regulated (e.g. electricians, pilots)  Right to practise profession needed for example for: health care professionals, veterinary surgeons, chartered accountants, advocates, seafarers  Contact before coming to Finland

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Moving to Finland - First steps

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

Population register and home municipality at the Local Register 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

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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

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Finnish unemployment benefits

      Documents concerning work and education history E 301- form (from other EU-coutries) 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: 24,51 €/day (in 2008) www.kela.fi

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

(earnings-related) )

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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 980,40 €/month (in 2008) 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!

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Examples of gross incomes

  Private sector (2006):  IT Programmer 3 528 € / month    Truck driver 2 147 € / month Public sector (2007):  Carpenter 2 063 € / month Hairdresser/Barber 1 728 € / month Cleaner 1 725 € / month    Class teacher 2 995 € /month Nurse 2 510 € / month Librarian 2 198 € / month An average Finnish salary 2 781 €/month (2008, 2nd quarter) Source: Statistics Finland

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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 For an average Finnish salary 2 781 €/month (33 372 €/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%)

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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

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Accommodation

How much will it cost?

 Examples :  Average rent for a two room flat: 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

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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!

Employment and Economic Development Office

Thank You !

EURES-advisers Kristina Rönnblom Taru Asikainen