Presidential economic forum discusses education and labour force
Jorma Ollila concerned about state of Finnish young men
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Finland is doing reasonably well economically, but experts warn that in the coming years the country could face a serious labour shortage if certain pitfalls affecting competitiveness are not addressed.
One of the biggest problems that were seen at a labour forum on Tuesday involve the education system. Finland is not getting enough talented workers from abroad, and available labour and vacant jobs do not do not mesh together.
The forum, organised by President Tarja Halonen, brought together about 40 influential figures from different sectors of society to discuss labour issues.
"It appears that in the next decade, there will be competition for young labour, skilled labour, and labour in general", is how Harry Skog, a top official at the Ministry of Education, summed up the situation.
The politicians, experts, civil servants, corporate executives, and representatives of labour market organisations and non-governmental associations did not reach a consensus on how a labour shortage might be prevented. The discussion focused more on identifying the problem, and doing something about it.
The most surprising comment came from Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Board of both Nokia and Shell Oil. Instead of worrying about the lack of research and product development, he focused on the problems of Finnish young men - their poor physical condition and unhealthy lifestyles.
"There is reason to be concerned about the physical condition of young men. The average weight of Finnish conscripts has risen by nearly five kilos in the past ten years.", Jorma Ollila pointed out.
Ollila was also concerned about high unemployment, heavy use of alcohol, and the high homicide rate in Finland compared with other EU countries.
"All of these are linked with the economy", Ollila emphasised.
Ollila also emphasised the importance of raising the productivity of Finnish labour. He noted that especially the service sector is lagging behind the overall growth in productivity. In his view, centralised wage agreements, in which pay hikes are tied to growth in the economy as a whole, are dangerous.
While business representatives largely agreed with Ollila’s view, trade unionists shunned the idea of giving individual employers more discretion in setting wage levels.
"The service sector mainly employs women. As we have a common goal of reducing pay differences between men and women, some kind of fairness needs to be maintained", said Lauri Ihalainen, president of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK).
"Productivity has improved mainly through investments, now that they have declined, new thinking is needed. Well-being at work, and good management need to be developed, and new technology needs to be taken into use."
It was hardly surprising that entrepreneurs felt that supporting enterprise was the solution, or that conservative National Coalition Party chairman Jyrki Katainen came out in favour of reducing taxes, or that student organisations want larger student grants and less short-term employment contracts.
President Halonen said that she hoped that the forum would be a kickoff for political debate in the autumn. High-profile discussions, such as the President’s labour forum, appear to be establishing themselves as a tradition of sorts. The next Presidential forum is to take place November, with welfare as the topic.
Jorma Ollila, who was the focus of media attention at the first such forum on Tuesday, was in favour of the idea.
"This kind of an event gives a good possibility for dialogue. People in Finland do not really know how to discuss things", Ollila noted.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 30.8.2006 - TODAY |
 Presidential economic forum discusses education and labour force
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