Page 68 - Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja

English Summaries
Työpoliittinen aikakauskirja 1/2017
ure are displaced every year as a consequence of mass dismissal or rm closure, a share that rose to more than 7% during the global nancial crisis. Job displacement is high in international comparison but so are also re-employment rates of displaced workers. The share of workers who nd a new job within one year after displacement is also among the highest among OECD coun- tries, standing at 87%. The good average re-em- ployment outcomes rely mostly on the exible Finnish labour market that allows fast labour reallocation.
Overall, Finland has strong and balanced poli- cies in place to deal with economic restructuring and to assist people losing their job for economic reasons. Employment protection law and the temporary layo scheme provide considerable exibility for employers at very low cost. Change security provides early support to the displaced workers by informing both employers and work- ers quickly about their rights and obligations, though de facto this is applied only for mass dis- missal. Earnings-related unemployment bene t provides internationally compared good income support after a job loss if eligible and for a rela- tively long time. The public employment service provides services to displaced workers needing help to nd a new job.
However, policy challenges remain because not every worker in Finland bene ts from the same level of support. Older displaced workers, blue-collar workers and those with low skills struggle to nd a new job again, and long-term unemployed people pro t little from the availa- ble employment support. Employment services in Finland have little focus on displaced work- ers who have in many cases never been unem- ployed before and their particular needs which are often quite di erent from those of harder-to- place jobseekers, for example. For the most part, the mainstream labour market programmes are asked to deliver, except for the Change security. This implies that core rules and regulations must be adjusted to serve this client group in a more e cient and more e ective way.
This article makes a comparative analysis of publicly funded workplace development pro- grammes conducted in various European coun- tries in recent years, with a focus on their main learning implications for Finland. The empirical data are based on a European book publishing project on workplace innovations, a benchmark- ing study conducted as part of the EU-funded WORK-IN-NET project, and the author’s other long-standing contacts and cooperation rela- tionships with European programme agencies in this eld. The Scandinavian countries, Germany, the Benelux countries, the British Isles and other European countries are explored in separate sec- tions. The analysis highlights the importance of three matters, in particular, in which Finland has a lot to learn from experiences of other European countries. First, Denmark and Norway are show- cases in Europe on how a close dialogue between the labour market organizations can create good preconditions for perseverance in workplace development, irrespective of changes in govern- ment coalitions. Second, Germany is a leading example in Europe of long-term governmental commitment to working life research and work- place development. Germany has had a contin- uous chain of national programmes in this eld since 1974. Third, one of the biggest challenges faced by all programmes so far is to nd e cient means of disseminating good practices from one context to another and bring about larger-scale processes of workplace change. The ongoing Flemish and Scottish programmes are among the best examples in Europe in which main- streaming is an in-built element of programme strategies.
Workplace development strategies and programmes in Europe: learning implica- tions for Finland
Tuomo Alasoini, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Chief Adviser, Tekes
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