Minister Filatov: Some of Finnish jobless not employable even for free

Tarja Filatov

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When the Ministry of Labour, the Employment and Economic Development Centre for Uusimaa, and the representatives of Finnish employers arranged a recruiting event for 300 unemployed persons, only eight of them found work.
      According to Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov (SDP), a part of the unemployed population are just not employable, even for free.
      On the other hand, it is currently hard to find enough labour for the service sector in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
     
Currently, the number of the long-term unemployed is around 175,000. The number includes persons who have been without work for more than 12 months.
      The majority of them are males who have been unemployed for as long as 10-15 years. The Minister of Labour believes that some of them will be able to find work once the baby boomer generation has retired, and their jobs in the municipal sector become vacant.
      On the other hand, Helsinki Mayor Eva-Riitta Siitonen says that the municipalities cannot be expected to employ people just to relieve the impact of unemployment, but they will require a person with the best possible skills for each job.
     
The debate between Filatov and Siitonen at the unemployment seminar on Thursday brought up the question of who should take care of the long-term unemployed.
      For the time being, the unemployment benefits are state-funded. However, a committee at the Ministry of Labour is preparing a proposal that the costs of such benefits should be shared between the state and the municipalities. Moreover, the committee is proposing that to be qualified for unemployment benefit, the unemployed should take part in rehabilitation, training, or work.
     
The municipalities argue that the unemployment benefits should be state-funded also into the future. Helsinki in particular vigorously opposes the change of unemployment funding, because it would mean an increase of 40 to 50 % in its expenditure on social assistance.
      Currently, the city has almost 30,000 unemployed citizens, one third of them being among the long-term unemployed.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Fewer Estonians hired directly by Finnish companies (17.9.2004)

Links:
  The Employment and Economic Development Centre for Uusimaa

Helsingin Sanomat