Guest blogger: One-Stop Guidance Centres play a key role in the TE24 reform

News

At the beginning of 2025, the responsibility for organising employment services will be transferred to the municipalities, and at the same time, the act on the multidisciplinary promotion of employment will enter into force. The act has a separate section on a multidisciplinary joint service that promotes the employment of young people. It refers to a low-threshold service aimed at people under the age of 30 that operates like the current One-Stop Guidance Centres.

The inclusion of the multidisciplinary joint service in the act is significant, as the service provided by One-Stop Guidance Centres has not previously been laid down in an act. This will enable municipalities to make the proven service a more effective part of services promoting the employment of young people.

Establishing a joint service for young people is beneficial as One-Stop Guidance Centres have demonstrated their value as part of the multidisciplinary services for young people. Various studies have shown that One-Stop Guidance Centres guide young people towards the services they need faster than the traditional service path. In addition, the activities of One-Stop Guidance Centres increase the participation of young people and prevent exclusion.

Multidisciplinarity and bringing services together enable young people to receive timely and flexible support. A low-threshold service that takes young people's starting points into account is an unrivalled pioneer. The One-Stop Guidance Centre concept has served as a model example of how the EU Youth Guarantee Recommendation can be implemented, and many other EU member states have applied it in their own regions.

One-Stop Guidance Centres also produce significant societal benefits. They cover their costs through public savings, reduce the costs of unemployment and increase the value added generated by the workforce.

The effectiveness of One-Stop Guidance Centres is undeniable, so it is important that the employment areas, together with the relevant actors, agree on the implementation of the service. This ensures that young people receive as comprehensive and versatile services as possible from the beginning of 2025.

How should new employment authorities take the joint service for young people into account in their regions?

The employment authorities must prepare an assessment of the service needs of young people in their region and organise the operating conditions for the joint service. The aim is to ensure that One-Stop Guidance Centres remain and continue to develop as multidisciplinary low-threshold service points for young people. In the future, the party responsible for One-Stop Guidance Centre activities can still be someone else than the employment authority, such as youth services.

The labour market situation in the region should be taken into account in the assessment. It is also important to consult actors and partners that play a key role in the joint service for young people, as cooperation between different services is important in the construction of the joint service.

The information provided by the local authorities' guidance and service network for multidisciplinary cooperation can also be used in the preparation of the assessment. Different regions may have different service needs, which must be acknowledged in the preparation of the assessment and in the planning of service implementation.

The assessment should consider the general labour market situation of young people in the employment area, the development of structural unemployment among young people, cooperation structures in the public, private and third sectors, key actors in the regional youth service ecosystem, the situation of NEET young people, and the possible need for multicultural competence in young people's services.

The employment areas must negotiate the organisation of service points together with key service actors, and the services must be easily accessible for young people. It must also be ensured that the joint service has a person responsible for the activities. The person in charge can be a representative of any organisation that plays a significant role in the joint service.

In some employment areas, the One-Stop Guidance Centre activities have been established so well that the reform does not necessarily cause major changes. However, the TE24 reform allows each area to influence what kind of joint service it builds for young people in the region so that they receive the best possible service.

Well-functioning service relies on effective cooperation

The joint service for young people is a multidisciplinary service, the implementation of which requires expertise in different fields. Cooperation between different actors does not necessarily happen overnight but requires work. Therefore, it is important to set common goals for the activities and to start building cooperation between different actors in good time to ensure that young people receive the best possible service from the beginning of 2025. With the TE24 reform, those One-Stop Guidance Centres whose operating methods and cooperation structures have become established can reflect on their activities and consider whether something could be improved even further.

Author

Senior Specialist Eveliina Vainikka (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) is a member of the secretariat of the Sote yhdyspinnat working group that is included in the preparation of the TE2024 reform. The working group supports the implementation of the TE24 and KOTO24 reforms and their preparation on the interfaces of the social, health and rehabilitation services of the wellbeing services counties, Kela and the new employment authorities.

More information