Sources have told Yle that the Finnish government does not plan to remove obligations for unemployed people to apply for four jobs per month in order to continue to continue receiving their full unemployment benefits.
In September 2023, Employment Minister Arto Satonen (NCP) told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that the government was planning to remove such obligations. That change was supposed to go into effect last autumn, but did not.
At the time, the minister said that the job application rule caused employers to be flooded with a large number of unnecessary job applications.
Satonen recently applied for the job of director general of social services agency Kela, which doles out benefits.
The minister did not offer comment on the information obtained by Yle.
The newspaper's article included the minister's staff saying that lifting the job application obligations would only have affected jobless people who would return to work within three months. For example, teachers who know that their employment will resume at the beginning of a new term would not be obliged to apply for other jobs.
The job search obligations were originally part of the Sanna Marin government's Nordic employment model. After the rule came into effect in May 2022, unemployment benefit recipients were compelled to apply for four jobs per month. However, there are exceptions to the rule, and some people can be granted partial or full exemptions from the obligations.
Warning first, then risk benefits
Those required to follow the rules will first be given a warning if they fail to comply, and may risk having their benefits suspended for a set period if they do not start applying for jobs.
The government is said to be working on streamlining the job application process. However, it is not yet known how, as the employment ministry is still working on a draft proposal.
Another rule calls for unemployed jobseekers to meet with officials at the national employment agency TE, particularly when they first find themselves out of work. However, the agency has had a difficult time arranging all those meetings, in line with the law.
According to Yle's sources, the main message is that the obligation to apply for four jobs is not being waived. However, they said this could still change.
The sources said the unemployed would still be obliged to seek work, but TE officials would be better able to consider what kinds of jobs would be suitable for their situation. They said that the government is aiming to increase the efficiency of such efforts, while also tailoring the agency's services to jobseekers' individual needs.
A law proposal regarding the arrangement is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament in the autumn, and expected to go into effect sometime next year.
Finland saw its unemployment rate reach nearly nine percent towards the end of last year. Meanwhile, the number of job vacancies halved compared to the year before. Unemployment is widely expected to rise again this year.
Responsibility for employment management and services were shifted from the TE offices to municipalities at the beginning of this year.