North Savo concludes workforce negotiations with €9.5 million in projected savings

The joint negotiations regarding workforce arrangements in the North Savo region concluded today. The regional authority previously announced the initiation of these negotiations in September with a goal of achieving savings of €14.5 million in personnel costs. However, the outcomes revealed expected savings of €9.5 million instead.

The financial plan for 2025 includes a reduction of up to 188.8 full-time equivalents. This represents the potential part-time adjustments of no more than two positions and the termination of up to 77 full-time roles. Changes to employment contracts are anticipated for no more than 50 positions. Retirement and the reduction of temporary staff are expected to contribute €4.2 million towards the stated savings. Currently, the North Savo welfare area employs approximately 12,800 individuals.

In addition to the ongoing savings, an extra €5 million is projected to be saved in a one-off capacity next year. These savings will come from the reduction of temporary staffing, contracted services, and additional work opportunities. Additional efforts to save money will include voluntary exchanges of holiday bonuses and various leaves of absence. The region also noted that submitted savings proposals from staff in the fall of 2024 have been taken into account.

Layoffs are not ruled out for next year, contingent upon whether other measures fail to deliver the necessary savings. If needed, these layoffs could last up to two to three weeks and would primarily affect the personnel in strategic and corporate services as well as top management in service production. The regional council will finalize the negotiation results in their meeting on November 18. The employer’s decisions on terminations, layoffs, or part-time adjustments will follow after this meeting. According to official communications, all staff unions expressed dissent regarding the negotiation results.