Two qualifications have not kept Tuula Keränen in work

Two major rounds of layoffs hit South Karelia, but the unemployment rate has risen to just over 13 percent rather than the feared 18 percent. Yle reports that 58-year-old Tuula Keränen, whose qualifications are in process industry and nursing, is among those still looking for work.

Layoffs at the South Karelia Wellbeing Services County, a regional health and social services authority, and the closure of UPM’s Kaukas paper mill raised concerns about a sharp rise in unemployment. The rate remains among the highest of Finland’s regions, and unemployment grew faster in South Karelia than in the rest of the country in August.

Since Yle last spoke to Keränen in January, she has taken summer jobs, short nursing assignments and occasional shifts. She left the paper mill before it closed after getting a three-week nursing job at a health centre. The job was extended to two months. After two weeks without work, she spent the summer working in the laboratory at UPM’s pulp mill.

Since August, she has been unemployed apart from a few nursing shifts. She plans to keep seeking work in both fields, one short stint at a time, but doubts that permanent industrial jobs will be available in the southeast. She hopes to find more temporary nursing work.

Moving for a job is not an option. Keränen’s mother, who has dementia, lives in Lappeenranta, where Keränen’s husband also wants to stay. He, too, lost his industrial job. “It wasn’t our fault that we became unemployed,” Keränen said.

Edla Inkilä, a forecasting expert at the Southeast Finland Centre for Vitality, said the impact of the wellbeing services county’s extensive layoffs had been smaller than expected. Many people who lost their jobs have been offered work, at least on fixed-term contracts.

Inkilä said financial support could help people laid off from the paper industry find new jobs. A decision is due in October on whether South Karelia will receive a total of 1.5 million euros from the EU and the employment area. She also pointed to investment plans, a pickup in construction and fewer change negotiations than the previous year. The employment situation could improve gradually next year if the economy recovers and some industries strengthen, she said.

Keränen wants employers to focus on applicants’ willingness to learn rather than their age. She said online application forms can be difficult for people who have spent many years in work, and that job seekers she has spoken with fear their applications are discarded when their age becomes clear. Inkilä said age discrimination occurs because of employers’ attitudes, while young people are also finding it difficult to get work.