Finland's special commitment to disadvantaged jobseekers

The Finish economy is completely dependent on exports, and weak demand in Europe has forced businesses to tighten their belts.

In early autumn there was a huge debate surrounding the Salcomp company, which made a conscious decision to move production to southern China and closed its factory making mobile telephone chargers in northern Finland.

Almost 300 people lost their jobs in a town which had little else to offer in terms of employment. It was all the more serious because the deadline for paying back the state support for starting up a business had just run out.

The debate surrounding out- sourcing has continued during the autumn. About 30.000 industry jobs in Finland have disappeared since 2001, while the public and private sectors have not been capable of compensating for it. Only a few jobs have reappeared in other countries.

One example; In January 2004, the ship power supplier Wärtsilä announced it would stop [producing ships' diesel engines in Åbo, and move production to Trieste in Italy Around 500 people lost their jobs, along with many others working for sub—contractors. But no new jobs were created in Trieste.  So there are no signs industries are planning to hire people on any large scale in Finland.

On the contrary, the enlargement of the European Union will see low- wage jobs disappearing to the Baltics. A rule of thumb is that employment rises when economic growth compared to gross national pro- duct (GNP) reaches three per cent. But signals of an economic upturn are still far too weak, and Finland will not reach the three per cent level until next year — if then. To talk about growth without jobs, like in the United States, is wrong applied to Finnish reality.