New law will require all jobseekers to publish skills profiles

A new law will require all jobseekers in Finland to create and publish an anonymous skills profile on the public Job Market Finland website from September 1. Yle reports that employers support the change, while unemployed people and labour authorities question whether it will work.

The profile will include information about a jobseeker’s skills, work experience and education. Employers will see only the person’s qualifications and can contact them through the service.

The reform is intended to help companies find qualified employees. At Lastux, a machine shop in Sastamala, the company is constantly looking for more workers. It mainly recruits through word of mouth, the internet and recommendations from acquaintances. A few employees have been hired through public employment services.

“The services are good, but there are fairly large gaps in the skill levels of jobseekers,” said Lastux entrepreneur Lasse Tuominen.

Tuominen said the new profiles could help address the problem of employers and suitable workers failing to find each other. He said the most important thing would be for jobseekers to describe their skills accurately, to avoid disappointment later.

Harri Jaskari, director of economic policy at the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, said the obligation could improve employers’ chances of finding suitable workers through public employment services. He said the services are currently used by surprisingly few employers and do not work well enough.

Jaskari said only about 40,000 people currently have a jobseeker profile, which he described as a very small proportion of unemployed people making their CVs visible.

Under the new law, a new jobseeker will generally have 15 working days to complete and publish a profile on Job Market Finland. For existing jobseekers, the obligation will begin at their first contact with the authorities.

If a jobseeker does not create a profile, a labour authority will prepare and publish one on their behalf. Failure to create a profile will not currently result in a penalty.

Jaskari said sanctions should be considered if the number of profiles does not increase significantly. In his view, receiving unemployment benefits also involves obligations, including describing one’s skills.

Jukka Haapakoski, executive director of the Central Association of Unemployed People, opposed both the obligation and the possibility of penalties. He said a voluntary service would best attract motivated and skilled workers.

Haapakoski said sanctions would not work and could make unemployed people’s lives more difficult and cause anxiety. They could also increase bureaucracy in employment services.

The new law has also raised concerns among labour authorities. The City of Tampere criticised the proposal during the consultation process. As many as 100,000 profiles could become the responsibility of officials, representing an estimated 100,000 hours of work.