Employment officials’ situation has improved significantly, while the labour market situation remains challenging

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Since the beginning of 2025, the Employment, Development, and Administration Centre (KEHA Centre) has been responsible for the national and regional monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of employment services. As part of this task, the KEHA Centre regularly publishes extensive specialist assessments and brief statistical reviews on the use and implementation of employment services. During the year, the KEHA Centre prepares several regional statistical reviews and statutory specialist assessments for each of the 45 employment areas. The specialist assessments are processed in the regional cooperation and monitoring discussions organised by the Economic Development Centres. The statistical reviews are sent to the employment areas three times a year, and the KEHA Centre also publishes a national review containing national comparative data that is available to all, for example, on the Job Market Finland website.

Through the national review, different stakeholders can, for example, compare different employment areas with one another and get a clear overall picture of the situation in the region that interests them. The review covers the entire previous year, and the data presented in it are mainly annual averages calculated on the basis of monthly statistics.

The KEHA Centre publishes the national statistical review based on regional specialist assessments under the Employment and Statistics section at Job Market Finland and on the joint TUUTTI platform of the KEHA Centre and employment officials.

If the information is requested, the KEHA Centre may also later update the statistics now provided up to December 2025, or submit more detailed reviews specific to each employment area. Information requests can be sent to: tietopalvelu@keha-keskus.fi

The national statistical review now being published includes information on:

  • The development in job seekers, unemployed persons, and open jobs
  • Flow to unemployment
  • The amount of municipal funding
  • Up-to-date employment plans and the implementation of the job seeker’s service process
  • Customer satisfaction among job seekers
  • Use of statutory activation services

The review is available here: National review of the organisation of employment services 1–12/2025 (fi)

 Observations on the organisation of employment services (January–June/2025) 

  • In 2025, employment areas started their operations in a very challenging labour market situation:
    • Unemployment and especially long-term unemployment have been rising sharply, while labour demand in many sectors has declined
    • Broad unemployment has developed more favourably, with rise seeming to taper off across the country towards the end of the year. However, in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, the rise is still stronger than in the rest of the country. Especially in smaller areas, broad unemployment has even started to decline.
  • The turn of the year and the beginning of the year caused a natural “shock reaction” in many employment areas, although some areas had recovered from it by the end of the year
    • For example, in Central Finland, Kainuu-Koillismaa, and South Ostrobothnia, the situation returned to the "basic level" and even above it very quickly
    • Uusimaa faces challenges, especially in larger employment areas (Helsinki, Espoo-Kauniainen, Vantaa), but also more extensively
  • Flows to unemployment at historically high levels in some employment areas, and the trend has not significantly eased
  • The use of active labour market services has decreased considerably, but some of the statutory services have been replaced by municipal services. The activation rate began to increase towards the end of the year.
  • Unemployment security processes had very short processing times throughout the year, but at the same time the number of incoming requests for clarification has decreased significantly, the situation started to normalise towards the end of the year
  • The number of job offers remained at a very low level, but the new legislation is expected to increase the numbers. A few areas have clearly invested in active employment services.
  • The share of up-to-date service plans decreased significantly in January-April, but the situation has, in many respects, normalised and exceeded the baseline towards the end of the year
  • Significant regional differences in the implementation of the statutory job seekers’ service model, especially small and medium-sized areas invest more in face-to-face services
  • Job seekers’ customer satisfaction with employment services has remained at a good level despite the major change
  • The costs of unemployment benefits co-funded by municipalities have increased significantly compared to earlier, which has challenged service development

 

 For more information, please contact (firstname.lastname@keha-keskus.fi):  

  • Santtu Sundvall, Head of Unit, KEHA Centre, Evaluation and Knowledge-based Leadership Unit  
  • Petri Syvänen, Head Researcher, KEHA Centre, Evaluation and Knowledge-based Leadership Unit   

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Employment Services' Statistics Bulletin