In principle, special aides are hired in Finland to assist the newly-appointed ministers until the end of their term. Most assistants don’t make it that long; however, as the typical ministerial assistant under Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen’s current government will work for just six months to a year before moving on.
One reason for the high turnover is the brief tenure of the ministers themselves, who like to bring on new special assistants of their own if named to a new position. Special assistants to the ministers have no official working hours and their salaries range from about four thousand to just under seven thousand euros per month, dependent on their educational training and experience.
High staff turnover among ministerial assistants is not necessarily a sign of unusual amounts of drama in the workplace. Often aides leave for natural reasons, like to pursue new job opportunities, or the job simply ends at the expiration of the work contract. Nevertheless, all of the ex-assistants interviewed by Yle said there was one deciding factor why each of them abandoned their aide position.
“Being a special assistant is a 24/7 job. Then there is family to consider. A special assistant’s job requires a lot of understanding from the family,” says Ilmari Nalbantoglu, former special assistant to Minister of Finance Jutta Urpilainen and current Social Democratic Party employee. Nalbantoglu says that the assistant’s position provides an interesting vantage point for observing Finnish politics.
“At the same time, it is demanding, both in terms of content and time efficiency. You have to grasp new things quickly. I worked under a temporary work contract, and while I was there, I was asked to start work in communications at the party office,” he says.
Balancing the calendar
Tage Lindberg worked as Urpilainen’s ministerial group’s secretary for two years. From there, he moved back to his former employer, the SEFE Economics Association.
“The biggest reason I left is because it just ate all of my time. I wanted my calendar to be more balanced. The work was tough, but very interesting in terms of networking, and that has been very useful to me in my current work,” says Lindberg.
Sauli Hievanen worked for Minister of Transport and Communications Merja Kyllönen for under a year.
“Our first child was born and I wanted more humane working hours. Being a special assistant is very consuming and your cell phone addiction is manic,” says Hievanen, currently a business policy expert at the Central Organisation of Trade Unions SAK.
On-the-job relationships not a problem
None of the interviewed ex-assistants indicated that interpersonal problems or bad chemistry were a factor in their decision to leave their jobs.
“I always got along with Minister Urpilainen very well and I still do. We had no ideological differences when it comes to the issues. Of course, there were some things that could have worked out differently, but that is always the case in politics,” says Lindberg.
Hievanen agrees: “I never had any problems with personal chemistry. As a matter of fact, Minister Kyllönen was the best boss I’ve ever had.”