Tampere struggles to attract applicants for youth employment vouchers despite high unemployment

The Finnish city of Tampere is actively marketing a state-funded youth employment voucher program after seeing little interest, even though nearly €3 million remains unclaimed in the region and over 8,000 under-30s are unemployed, Yle reports.

The national program, launched this year with a €30 million budget, covers half of a young employee’s salary for six months—up to €1,500 per month or €9,000 total per hire. Yet by late May, Tampere’s employment district had secured just 34 agreements, leaving funds for hundreds more.

Local officials attribute the slow uptake to weak business conditions and restrictive eligibility rules. To qualify, employers must hire jobseekers under 30 who have been unemployed for at least six months (or three months if they lack upper-secondary education).

Tampere has rolled out ads in regional newspapers, transit campaigns, and direct outreach to businesses. Most applicants so far are small firms: 19 with fewer than 10 employees and 13 with under 50.

One beneficiary, engineering firm Coresbond, used the voucher to hire Anita Savela, a 2020 graduate who had struggled to find work in her field during the pandemic. “I’d almost given up on getting a job in my profession,” Savela said. She now has a one-year contract.

Another recipient, cleaning business owner Pasi Karjalainen, used the support to formalize an apprenticeship for his daughter Diana. Officials note the voucher’s flexibility—it can be combined with traineeships and applied retroactively—has helped some employers.

Criticism persists over the program’s strict criteria, with other major cities like Kuopio reporting similarly low participation despite outreach efforts.