Metro area already preparing for labour shortages
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Communities in the Greater Helsinki area are gearing up for an impending labour shortage that will threaten basic municipal services, as employees head into retirement at an increasing pace in the next few years.
Helsinki has gone furthest, having initiated apprenticeship training programmes some five years ago. Vantaa is also offering training by this method.
In actual fact the shortfall of labour in Helsinki is not as yet very serious, but there is a constant and chronic lack of certain highly educated personnel, such as doctors and dentists.
Eija Hanni from the city of Helsinki's Personnel Centre reports that the city has had positive experiences from its training and retraining programmes. The numbers on apprenticeship training have grown gradually from just over 100 in 2001 to around 150 this year.
In Espoo, the future manning of certain key positions has been safeguarded by employing young workers to sit alongside someone approaching retirement age and to "learn the ropes", in order to be better able to take over when the senior member of staff takes retirement.
Espoo has the same problem as Helsinki in suffering from a shortage of employees for services to Swedish-speaking residents. Equally, there is a need for more staff in the basic elderly health care sector. Offers have been made to nurses who have moved abroad, trying to tempt them to return.
The average age of workers in the public sector in Vantaa is now 46 years. Within the next 15 years, some 40 per cent of the current workforce will change.
"Vantaa's philosophy for resolving the problem has been to take good care of the working community. It is important what kind of reputation the city has as an employer", says Kirsi-Marja Lievonen of Vantaa's Personnel Resources.
Vantaa has for instance reformed its incentive schemes and has created a career path model for staff that allows for changes in profession if requested, while employees still remain in the service of the city.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 9.2.2007 - TODAY |
 Metro area already preparing for labour shortages
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