Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov: The centres for labour development enhance client services
Multiprofessional centres for labour development will be established in different parts of the country. Individual activation programmes will be made for each long-term unemployed person, and all young people under 25 will be guaranteed a training, trainee or workshop place after 3 months’ unemployment. By a recovery package in conjunction with the supplementary budget, direct investment projects will also be started. By these, endeavours are being made to break the growth of unemployment, said Minister of Labour, Tarja Filatov, when presenting the employment-policy guidelines of the Government at a meeting with reporters in Helsinki.
In order to break the hard core of structural unemployment, the cooperation of authorities responsible for the management of employment will be intensified. A client difficult to employ needs not run to different places seeking services, but the services are to be found in one and the same place. At the centres for labour development, difficult-to-employ clients will be provided multiprofessional individual services. Those involved in the centres for labour development include the local employment office, municipal social and health affairs, youth affairs, the Social Insurance Institution, other experts and different service producers.
The centres for labour development gathers scattered actors, such as one stop shops, social entrepreneurship, the use of combined subsidy, workshop activities, the development of job-finding activities, measures for independent employment, preparatory training and life control subsidy, measures for supporting jobseeking, rehabilitative work experience and activation plans, clarification of the conditions for rehabilitation and retirement, and language training for immigrants. The activities for purchasing services are put on a regular basis so that it will be possible to purchase services and experts’ measures by long-term agreements.
Filatov stressed that an individual activation programme will be drawn up for each long-term unemployed. For unemployed under 25 years of age, a training, trainee or workshop place will be arranged after 3 months of unemployment. Packages of rehabilitation, work and individual coaching, traineeship and training will be introduced. Despite the measures, everybody will not have opportunities of getting employment. For that reason, models are developed by which the retirement possibilities of the clients are clarified. The workshop activities of young people and long-term unemployed will be established permanently.
In accordance with the Government Programme, the structural reform of employment services will be implemented in the years 2004-2006. In the reform, labour exchange and support measures for those difficult to employ will be differentiated. The personnel and knowledge of employment offices are increased, as are purchased services. At the same time this will provide resources for employment exchange and other services for clients that should be helped immediately.
The quality and effectiveness of labour market training will be enhanced, emphasizing the needs of individuals and enterprises. Apprenticeship training for adults and purchases of labour market training jointly with enterprises are increased and also focused on promoting the on-the-job training of SMEs. The system of purchasing training will be simplified. The objective is swift responseof the training to the needs of the labour market, and at the same time long-range development of training.
Filatov underlined that the focus of labour market support will be shifted from passive support to active support. The possibilities of unemployed persons to participate in employment measures will be increased. The maintenance allowance of the labour market support will be increased so that unemployed persons will have better economic possibilities to participate in active measures. At first, the maintenance allowance will be increased to eight euro per day. For persons participating in active measures outside their commuting area, the compensation will increase to 16 euro per day.
In addition to this, the Ministry of Labour is preparing an act on the promotion of social enterprise activities. The aim is for the new act on social enterprises to enter into force at the beginning of 2004. The possibilities of introducing a long-term employment subsidy are also clarified. This employment subsidy would be paid to an enterprise which employs a disabled person. The subsidy would be individually tailored according to the level of the working capacity.
The Government proposal for a supplementary budget includes a supplementary appropriation of approx. 26.5 million euro for the Ministry of Labour. The money will be spent for labour market training and subsidized employment. The focus of subsidized employment will be shifted to municipalities and the state. The 10 million euro reserved earlier for jobfinding activities will also be transferred to this purpose.
In accordance with the Government Programme, public investments will be taken care of earlier as a part of immediate recovery measures. The objects are projects that will be started as soon as possible to alleviate the employment situation. An amount of 3 million euro has been reserved for supplementary subsidies.
Employment-increasing investment projects will be launched in the administrative sectors of different ministries.
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Ministry of Labour/Information (09) 16006