Due to the measures set out in the Government Programme, the financing contributions paid by the Fund decreased
even though the unemployment rate was higher than last year.
The economy and the employment situation have developed less favourably than forecast during the first half of the year, which has been reflected in a higher than expected unemployment. There are currently a number of uncertainties affecting the global economy. The trade war and the tariff disputes may have significant negative impacts on the Finnish economy. The war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East also have economic impacts even though it is difficult to predict how they will develop.
We lowered the forecast for Employment Fund’s results for this year in April. We estimate that the deficit will be higher than previously anticipated. We also estimated that the employer’s and employee’s unemployment insurance contributions would have to be increased by 0.5–1.5 percentage points for the year 2026. Even if the contributions were increased by this amount for 2026, they would remain lower than before the lowering of the contributions for 2024 and 2025. We will present our proposal for the contribution levels at the end of August.
Even though the Finnish economy is slowing down and unemployment is on the increase, our liquidity remained solid throughout the first half of the year and we have successfully managed all our unemployment security and other social security financing tasks.
Employment Funds Managing Director Janne Metsämäki.
The contributions collected and financing contributions paid also include the government and municipality contributions. Figures for January – June 2024 are given in brackets.
As expected, the amount of unemployment insurance contributions collected remained well below the totals of the comparison period, mainly due to the unemployment insurance contributions being lowered. Due to the measures set out in the Government Programme the Funds financing contributions paid were substantially lower than compared to the previous year, even though unemployment was higher.
As expected, the half-year result (change in net position) remained in deficit, which was due to lower unemployment insurance contributions and high unemployment. However, the deficit was smaller than in the comparison period.
The share of customers satisfied or very satisfied with our services (CSAT) was excellent and averaged 88% (84%) during the first half of the year. Results show that customers were especially satisfied with the service they received by telephone. Overall customer satisfaction was lowered by the CSAT score for the unemployment insurance contribution service's online service, which we started an overhaul with started last year.
Customer satisfaction with the adult education benefits service remained high, despite the decision to abolish the benefits. Thanks to the high degree of automation in the processing of applications, we have been able to process the applications quickly.
Implementation of the Employment Fund’s strategy started during the first half of the year. Producing customer-oriented services for the digital age in a reliable and high-quality manner, and boosting productivity and efficiency are our strategic goals.
The transfer of our IT services to a new supplier neared completion allowing us to introduce more efficient digital services and to enhance the customer experience. A good example of these is the ongoing project in which we are updating our unemployment insurance contribution services.
In February, Janne Metsämäki who has served as the Managing Director of the Fund announced that he would retire on 31 December 2025. Then Metsämäki will have served as Managing Director for 11 years at the Employment Fund, and its predecessors, the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Education Fund.
Virpi Halme, Director of Technology and Development, and Katja Knaapila, Director of HR and Communication, left the Fund during the first half of the year. The Fund’s Board of Directors chose the Fund’s Head of PMO Antti Lähde as the new Director of Technology and Development. He started in his new position on 25 March. The duties of the HR and Communications Director were temporarily divided between members of the Management Group.
Managing Director Janne Metsämäki (left) and CFO Karo Nukarinen.
