The ongoing decline in employment in Finland has significantly increased the strain on employment advisors across the country’s newly formed employment regions. There are notable disparities in staffing levels among these regions with some specialists responsible for around 200 jobseekers on average while others manage closer to 100.
Published: 24/07/25 | 19:23
According to data collected by the KEHA Centre this spring, the national average stands at 149 jobseekers per advisor.
At the beginning of 2025 responsibility for employment services shifted from the national TE Offices to local municipalities leading to the establishment of regional employment areas throughout Finland.
The KEHA Centre which oversees the development and administration of ELY Centres plays a key role in implementing and improving regional government tasks.
In the Lahti region employment advisor Johannes Volmanen is handling more than 250 jobseekers.
“Honestly it’s too much for me to provide quality support. We do the best we can,” said Volmanen while noting that the organisation is still in the early stages of setup.
Many regions had already exhausted their budgets early in the year prompting municipalities to urgently seek ways to support unemployed individuals in reentering the workforce.
Since municipalities must help cover unemployment benefits when joblessness is prolonged, rising unemployment is a costly issue. Reports also indicate that unemployment spells are lasting longer than ever.
Recent data from Statistics Finland revealed that the country’s unemployment rate rose to 10.2% in the second quarter of the year. Over the past two years Finland has lost 64,000 jobs adding to the burden on employment advisors.
“With so many clients the time between meetings grows longer. It becomes harder to give each person the attention they deserve,” Volmanen explained.
He meets with clients both in person and over the phone often exploring their overall life situation, not just their employment to better understand their needs and goals.
“While I can’t change the job market itself I can support individuals to take positive steps and find a direction that suits them,” he added.
Eero Janhonen, who is a project manager at the KEHA Centre pointed out that the jobseeker-to-advisor ratios don’t fully reflect an advisor’s actual workload. In some areas jobseekers are listed under one advisor for administrative purposes even if multiple team members share the responsibility. This can lead to inflated figures in certain regions.
The KEHA Centre gathered this data to evaluate whether staffing levels are adequate during the ongoing transition.
Janhonen believes that a caseload of about 100 jobseekers per advisor is ideal as it allows for more individualized attention. She emphasized that the level of support needed varies greatly for instance, employed jobseekers may require little assistance compared to those who are fully unemployed.
However, staffing new employment regions has been a challenge, said Erja Lindberg from the Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities. Not all former TE Office employees transitioned to the new system and hiring fresh staff has proven time-consuming.
“We definitely need more advisors especially with rising unemployment,” Lindberg noted.
Lahti currently has the highest advisor-to-jobseeker ratio with 256 jobseekers per advisor based on KEHA data. However Maarit Ahomäki, the unit manager at Lahti’s employment services explained that the figure doesn’t reflect the true situation.
“The statistic was calculated from a group that didn’t include all advisors. When I checked recently the actual average is closer to 160,” she clarified.
Ahomäki acknowledged that the summer holiday season has disrupted operations but said they intend to recruit more advisors in the autumn.
“Things could always be better but we’re coping,” she said.
Lahti’s employment region is already preparing for an eventual economic upturn and aiming to improve service delivery as the labor market recovers.
“At the moment we’re focusing on supporting employers because they’re the ones who create jobs,” Ahomäki concluded.
