Employment authorities are responsible for the employment services in support of the employment and integration of immigrants who are jobseekers. Services for integration customers who are jobseekers are governed by both the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services and the Integration Act. Employment authorities are responsible for organising the services under the integration programme laid down in the Integration Act for integration customers who are jobseekers. They shall also ensure that their services suit the needs of immigrants.
Employment authorities are responsible for the following in respect of their immigrant and integration customers who have registered as jobseekers:
- assessments of skills and the need for integration services;
- preparing and monitoring integration plans;
- organising multilingual civic orientation;
- organising integration training and referring customers to other training or services to build up language skills and literacy;
- organising other services promoting civic skills and working life skills as well as employment and entrepreneurship, or referring customers to such services;
- providing customers with individualised guidance and advice during their integration programme and jobseeking.
The duties of the employment authority also include:
- looking after the organisation of other services included in the integration programme and developing its own services as part of the integration programme;
- looking after the development of personnel competence with regard to the promotion of integration;
- looking after the coordination of services in cooperation with the wellbeing services county and other authorities and service providers.
Besides specific measures promoting integration, immigrants may take advantage of all the services provided by the employment authorities to individuals.
- The range of such TE services provided by the employment authorities includes:
- information about vacancies, professions and trends in different professional sectors;
- advice and coaching for finding employment and for identifying one’s own competencies;
- personal guidance in career choices and support for career planning;
- training to update competencies or to find work in a new sector;
- support for re-entering the labour market in a new life situation;
- information about entrepreneurship as a career option.
Municipalities are offering employment services starting from 1 January 2025
The responsibility for organising TE services were transferred from the central government to municipalities on 1 January 2025. The reform aims to create a service structure that promotes the rapid employment of jobseekers by utilising all opportunities offered by municipal services. Despite the transfer of the responsibility for organising services, the central government has the ultimate responsibility for the labour force.
Services were transferred to municipalities or employment areas consisting of several municipalities that have an employment base of at least 20,000 persons. The municipalities forming an employment area must border each other and form a well-functioning area in terms of the labour market and employment.
In addition to financing labour market support, municipalities also contribute to the financing of basic unemployment allowance and earnings-related unemployment allowance in future. A jobseeker who finds work in the open labour market will benefit the municipality in the form of lower expenditure on unemployment benefits.
Municipalities offer all employment services in Finland starting from 1 January 2025.
Read more:
Jobmarket Finland
Employment areas
