What’s new in the Raahe employment area?
On 1 January 2025, employment and business services were transferred from central government to employment areas formed by municipalities. The reform created 45 employment areas in Finland. In this news item, we describe how the reform has affected the Raahe employment area.
The first month in the Raahe employment area has ended. The challenges posed by the change are still evident, and preparation-related issues remain unsolved. Experts have a lot to learn and to get used to in their work.
- We have a new municipal employer, a municipal organisation’s culture and a large customer service workload. Fortunately, not everything is new,” says TE Specialist Mari-Liisa Haka from Raahe’s employment services.
In Haka’s opinion, it is important to pay attention to the people around you when going through change.
- Experiences and insights shared with colleagues and professional support in challenging customer situations are an important part of the transition phase.
Customers give stamp of approval to personal experts
Customers in the Raahe region have had a mixed response to the change. In particular, feedback has been received regarding system issues at the start of the year. According to Haka, these issues caused frustration among customers. The reform has also had positive effects.
- At the moment, some of my own customers are satisfied and happy to have a personal expert who they can call if they need to, Haka continues.
According to Haka, the greatest local challenges are the ones that experts, residents and customers cannot influence, such as scarce resources.
- Personally, I find managing an extensive service network and a large number of assigned customers challenging.
Explore the regional pages of Raahe and other employment areas
The regional pages of Job Market Finland contain jobs, services, contact information, events and current news in the regions. The regional pages are designed jointly by local actors and are part of Job Market Finland. In the Raahe employment area, the regional page has been actively introduced.
- I use it daily for customer service work. I guide customers to find answers on the website, Haka explains.
According to Haka, Job Market Finland's data content supports both private and business customers well. For example, the site contains information on jobs, trainings, aid-related topics and unemployment security.
This interview is a part of the What’s new in the employment area? series. In the interviews, experts from different employment areas describe how the employment service reform has progressed in municipalities.