Employers worried about "voluntary unemployment" trend
Labour Minister warns against labelling all jobless on basis of small minority
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By Annakaisa Pirilä-Mänttäri
"Job rotation leaves, family leaves, study leaves are all welcome breaks to working life", says Riitta Wärn, an expert on labour and immigration policy at Finland’s main employers’ organisation, the Confederation of Finnish Industry.
According to Warn, it is a positive thing from the employers’ point of view that people appreciate their time off and want to keep the different areas of their lives in balance.
Wärn also feels that people usually spend the time off that they get under the job rotation scheme in good and beneficial pursuits, and that they return to work with their batteries recharged.
She does not feel that the increased appreciation of leisure time decreases the appreciation of work - in fact, quite the opposite is true.
Employers are less concerned about efforts to accommodate work and free time with each other than they are about the passive attitudes of the jobless. According to Riitta Wärn, the notion has been gaining ground that someone who loses his or her job can spend 500 days pursuing hobbies, spending more time with the family, and travelling, without having to actively seek a new job.
"It is a cause for concern if people, even temporarily, choose to live without work."
Riitta Wärn attributes this partly to a generational difference in attitudes toward work. Those over 50 think that it is important to work to make a living.
"With only slight exaggeration, we could say that younger people see it as their right to choose between work and living at the public expense."
Labour Minister Tarja Filatov (SDP) does not see the change in attitude that Wärn and the employers see.
Statistics also do not suggest that the situation is dramatic in any way. Each year Finns have a collective total of about one million phases of unemployment. Of those who lose their jobs, 70% find a new job within a month.
Filatov also says that those who have given up on finding work are not earners of income-linked unemployment benefits. Instead, they the ones who have lost their hope after years of unemployment.
"We should not label all of the unemployed on the basis of a small group", says Filatov.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 1.12.2004
More on this subject:
 Leisure time has become increasingly important
Year off in Åland changed Annamaija Varjonen's life
FACTFILE: Nearly 90,000 availed themselves of job rotation benefit
ANNAKAISA PIRILÄ-MÄNTTÄRI / Helsingin Sanomat
annakaisa.pirila-manttari@hs.fi
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