This document summarizes key demographic and labor market trends in Nordic countries as presented by Petri Kahila in an OECD webinar. It notes that population is concentrating in urban areas, leading to regional imbalances and declining workforces in rural areas. The Nordic countries are also experiencing population aging, with the share of people aged 55-64 above the European average. While cities face issues like gentrification and segmented markets, rural areas struggle with lack of employment and services as populations decline and age. The document advocates for more regional approaches to address these varied challenges across territories. It also describes an ESF project in Finland aimed at increasing employee motivation and recognizing capabilities to strengthen regional competitiveness.

1. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Petri Kahila, Research Director
Spatia Centre for Regional Research
petri.kahila@uef.fi
OECD LEED Webinar Series
Webinar 3 – Adapting to ageing and shrinking local areas
19 January 2016
Ageing in Nordic Local
Labour Markets

2. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Main Demographic & Labour market Trends in
the Nordic Countries
•Concentration of people to urban areas has led to regional
imbalances
•Immobility or decrease of the workforce
•Gender imbalance
•Strongly growing international migration
•Ageing
2

3. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
State in the Nordic
Countries (1)
•Natural change and net
migration reflect the total
population change
•Total population change
varies a lot in Nordic
Countries
•Especially the background of
municipality
•Negative demographic
development is evident in
rural areas
3

4. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
State in the Nordic
Countries (2)
•Share of people aged 55-64
•Average ratio was 12.5% in
2013
•In Nordic regions this age
group is larger than in Europe
•Result is that people reaching
retirement will grow
significantly
•At municipal level values
range from 6% to 26% in
Finland 4

5. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
State in the Nordic
Countries (3)
•Norway is clearly standing
alone with low rates
•Sweden and Finalnd are
descibed by high
unemployment rates outside
urban areas
•Some city regions are
nowadays also facing high
unemployment rates
5

6. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Mobilising the Labour Force
•Decline in the working age share of the population is
reacted by mitigation efforts
•Pension reforms are primary instrument to mobilise labour
force
•On the other hand, youth and now also immigrants are
important target groups
•These instruments and policies cover normally mainly
macro-level approaches
6

7. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Opportunities and Challenges in Regions
•Cities form one extreme and rural/sparsely populated
areas the other extreme
7
Cities
 Gentrification processes
 Segmented housing and
labour markets
Rural/sparsely populated areas
 Poor employment possibilities
 Depopulation and ageing
 Poor access to services
•However, there are common challenges across the
territorial ‘urban’ and ‘rural’

8. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Pursuing Regional/Local Approaches
•Macro-level policies prevail in both labour market and
demography policy making
•There is a need to underline aspects of regional approaches
to ageing
•Current governance approaches are not capable to tackle
the right problems
•Geography of ageing is complex issue
8

9. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
ESF Project: Mentoring for Prosperous Workforce
•Intention is to increase employees’ motivation to support
the work community renewal
•How to apply employees’ know-how to increase the
competitiveness
•Key issue is to recognise employees’ capabilities as well as
deficiencies in the labour market
•Competitiveness can be advanced, if entire workforce can
be utilised
9

10. UEF // University of Eastern Finland
Recent/prevailing policies
•Population change may lead to positive as well as negative
economic development
•Improving the matching of labour demand and supply is
central to national policies
•Finland is reforming health care and social welfare
provision as well as labour market policy
•Reform might lead to more regionally targeted policies
and incentives
10

11. Questions
&
Comments
Petri Kahila, Research Director