North Savo county plans 212 person-year cuts, including 43 layoffs

North Savo Wellbeing Services County plans to reduce its workforce by 212 person-years, including 43 through layoffs, Yle reported. The county has completed cooperation negotiations covering its entire staff.

The biggest cuts will affect services for older people, which will be reduced by 79.9 person-years. The county said the savings would be achieved by reforming residential services and reducing round-the-clock residential care.

At the same time, services supporting people to live at home and preventive services will be strengthened.

Wellbeing services county director Marko Korhonen said the staff reductions could affect the availability of services and the adequacy of staffing.

In May, the county said it was seeking permanent savings of up to 300 person-years. About 12,500 people currently work for the county.

Staff reductions will be pursued through retirements, employee turnover and the end of fixed-term contracts. Retirements account for 56 person-years and the ending of fixed-term contracts for seven. Nearly 105 person-years will be eliminated when positions disappear and are not filled.

Separate cooperation negotiations on the county’s management structure ended earlier in August. They covered 28 senior public officials and aimed to produce savings of about 1.2 million euros next year, equivalent to a reduction of up to 10 person-years.

However, dismissals among managers are not considered likely, as the county expects to achieve the savings through retirements and changes to duties.