Information to you who are considering about living and working in Finland.

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

2. 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

3. 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 6,9 Turku 14,6
Helsinki 8,9 Oulu 15,4
Vantaa 9,3 Tampere 14,2
Kuopio 11,3 Lahti 15,1
Jyväskylä 14,2

4. Regional
labour market situation
(2011)

5. 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

6. 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

7. Searching for a job
 National labour administration: www.mol.fi
”Avoimet työpaikat” (vacancies) > under ”Maakunta” select the last option ”Koko
Suomi” (whole Finland) > ”sanahaku” (keyword) > write ”English”> push enter
 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, www.hpl.fi
The national helpline Työlinja +358 295 020 700 Mo-Fri between 8-18:
Personal advice about work, jobs and labour market.

8. Terms of Employment
 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 1 103 €/month (in 2012)
 More information about labor legislation:
www.tyosuojelu.fi, www.mol.fi/finnwork, www.tem.fi
Ask for the employment contract in written form!

9.  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

10. 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)
www.sak.fi
II. The Finnish Confederation of salaried Employees STTK
(white-collar employees, service sector and industries)
www.sttk.fi
III. The Confederation of Unions for Academic
Professionals in Finland AKAVA www.akava.fi

11. Examples of gross incomes
 Engineer 3 500 – 4 200 € / month
 Carpenter 2 400 – 3 000 € / month
 Secretary 2 100 – 2 400 € / month
 Bus driver 2 500 € / month
 Cleaner 1 600 – 2 400€ / month
 Market seller 1 800 – 2 100 € /month
 Nurse 2 800 – 3 300 € / month
 Social worker 3 000 € / month
An average Finnish salary 3190 €/month (January 2012)
Source: Statistics Finland

12. 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 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: www.vero.fi

13. Finnish unemployment benefits
 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 www.ytk.fi )
II. The Labour market subsidy
 If you haven’t got enough work history
 Benefit for a single person gross 31,36 €/day (in 2012)
www.kela.fi (basic allowance and labour market subsidy)
www.tyj.fi (earnings-related)

14. Services of Employment Office for foreigners
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.

15. 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

16. 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 12.00-15.45)