Employment

We carry out studies, surveys and evaluations in the field of labour policy. We analyse the dynamics of the labour market and, in particular, the matching of labour supply and demand, where issues such as labour market policy measures, the social security system, taxation and the skills and ability to function in the market, are central.

Labour and employment policy aims to increase jobs and employment and reduce unemployment. Recently, labour and employment policy has emphasised increasing the supply of labour, but good employment and securing the availability of skilled labour requires a variety of interventions and a combination of different policy measures. Employment and employment management are increasingly seen as both tools for balancing public finances and important factors in terms of regional vitality.

In recent years, we have implemented employment-related projects on the following themes:

  • efficiency and effectiveness of employment services and policies
  • the effects of service structure reforms
  • availability of skilled labour
  • anticipation of regional labour needs
  • the effectiveness of various employment experiments; and
  • Support for the implementation of the TE 2024 reform.

What these projects have in common is that they have sought to promote the effectiveness and effectiveness-oriented development of employment-friendly policies.
In the ongoing TE Services 2024 reform, TE services will be transferred to the municipalities. The purpose of the reform is to bring services closer to customers. At the same time, the Nordic model of employment services and the reform of digital TE services are also currently in preparation.

Competence development

Competence development has become a topical theme with the new skills needs and gaps created by the transformation of working life and digitalisation. At the individual level, competence development usually means adding to and developing an employee’s knowledge and skills, for example through various training mechanisms and support for the identification of one’s own competence development.

Competence development is also an important goal at the national political level, as it is essentially related to, among other things

  • raising employment rates
  • extending careers
  • ensuring the availability of a skilled workforce; and
  • promoting the meaningfulness of careers.

Continuous learning is one of the primary concepts related to competence development and supporting it plays a significant role in Sanna Marin’s government programme. Continuous learning contributes to the development and renewal of skills at different stages of life. Continuous learning is not only linked to the education system, but is intended to enable skills to be developed flexibly alongside work. Thus, in the future, the dialogue between working life, education and lifelong learning, as well as the development of relations between them at the level of society as a whole, will be increasingly emphasised.