The corona pandemic weakened many people’s chances of finding a job. The situation is improving, but still weak.
– Every prolonged unemployment is a challenge in terms of the functioning of the labor market, but also from the point of view of our service providers. It indicates that the process has not necessarily been efficient enough in the initial stages of the job search, he states.
The number of so-called Kela fines, i.e. municipal shares of labor market support, also started to decrease last year from the peak in 2021. The municipality pays the larger part of the labor market support, the longer the resident has been unemployed.
The city of Lahti will have to pay an estimated 20 million euros for the municipal share of labor market support for 2022. This was half a million less than in 2021. Before the start of the corona pandemic, the amount was around 15 million euros per year.
The index increase may have accelerated retirement
Jobs have been found for those who have been out of work for a long time during the past year, but many of them are also covered by services that promote employment, such as training and work trials. Some of the elderly have retired.
– Last fall, there was quite a lot of talk about the index increase, which came into effect at the turn of the year. It may have also activated unemployed jobseekers to find out their own possibilities for retirement, says Taisto Tuominen, employment service manager of the city of Lahti.
According to Tuominen, the long-term unemployed include people whose job search became more difficult when the epidemic started. A gap of even 3-6 months in the CV may make it difficult for a person to re-enter a job.
– That’s why measures that promote employment, such as work training or coaching, could be a good way to improve one’s own chances of getting a job.
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