– The situation is worrying. Finland needs everyone who is willing and able to work for work, said Member of Parliament Tytti Tuppurainen on Wednesday at the recruitment and career coaching event for over-45s at UusioUra.
The same is also reflected in the statistics.
– Our dear neighbour Sweden is ahead of us. The employment rate there is higher and the difference is clear, especially in older age groups. We have a lot to tighten up.
Attitudes to renovation
There are many reasons for the plight of the elderly. There is a persistent misconception in the labour market that young people are always more efficient and skilled than older people.
– Young people are skilled, flexible and efficient. But so are older people. They know what they know and what they can give.
Tuppurainen reminds us that a change in attitude does not happen by itself, but requires a lot of talking.
Employment of the elderly also requires good employment services. Tuppurainen is a little concerned about the position of elderly job seekers, when public employment services will be transferred to municipalities from the beginning of next year.
– Municipalities must have the know-how to also meet experienced job seekers, so that they can be directed to the right services and jobs, she says.
Demand for incentives
A change in attitude alone is not enough. Incentives are also needed, such as expanding the earned income deduction in taxation.
– Many low-income earners now do not receive earned income deduction at all because their income is not enough.
Tuppurainen is particularly upset about the cuts in housing benefit, which also affect elderly job seekers. When housing is more expensive than before, the flexibility of the labor market and people's social mobility weaken. The distance between jobs and affordable housing easily becomes too great.
Adults need new training support
Adult training support ended at the beginning of August. However, the need for training for adults did not end with the change in the law, but in a changing working life, more and more people need to update their knowledge or retrain in adulthood.
– It was altogether regrettable that the government ended adult training support.
Tuppurainen emphasizes that we now need to get new training support for experienced adults.
– It is absurd and unrealistic to think that everyone would be able to take out a student loan to train for a new profession, when there may still be mortgages to pay.
– Society should encourage training rather than create thresholds for it.
An impossible equation
Tuppurainen also fears that making it easier to dismiss and weakening the obligation to take back jobs will further complicate the position of older workers in the labor market.
– Older workers are often the ones who are considered in change negotiations. The changes threaten to make older workers redundant in the labor market.
An impossible equation has been reached. At the same time as the government programme wants to tackle age discrimination, measures in the labour market are weakening the position of older people and their opportunities to advance in their careers.
However, the situation is not hopeless. Changes in law and attitudes could help improve the position of older people in the labour market.
– If there is a desire, everyone can find a job where they can utilise their own abilities, skills and aspirations.