Government announced on Thursday that it aims to tackle youth unemployment with a new employment voucher programme worth 30 million euros targeted at 18-29-year-olds. Labour Minister Matias Marttinen (NCP) has said it will incentivise employers to hire young people for at least six months.
Newspaper Uusi Suomi asked experts to assess the potential impact of the measure and whether the investment is sufficient to produce meaningful results
Heikki Taulu, an economist at labour federation Akava, said the measure is essentially a wage subsidy, where employers receive public funding for part of a targeted employee's wages. He noted some benefits and minor opportunities but added that similar programs have generally produced "rather modest results."
According to Taulu, it is hard to judge whether the investment is sufficient. He offered a rough calculation:
"If one subsidy period were, for example, 10,000 euros, 30 million euros would fund 3,000 subsidy periods. Compared to the total number of unemployed, this is quite modest, but relative to the potential target group, it is significantly larger. I cannot at this moment say how large the intended target group for this project is."
In July, there were 41,900 unemployed job seekers under 25 in Finland — about 5,000 more than a year ago. The employment vouchers would cover those up to age 29. Overall, there were 269,000 unemployed people aged 15–74 in July 2025 — 40,000 more than a year earlier.
Ilkka Kiema, research director at the Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE, also told Uusi Suomi that 30 million euros is a relatively small sum for such a project and that assessing the proposal is difficult without further details.
End of daylight saving?
Ilta-Sanomat reports that the discussion on ending the one-hour switch between summer and winter time is gaining new momentum at the EU level.
Finnish MEP Anna-Maja Henriksson (former SPP) wrote a letter to the European Commission, noting that EU citizens have long wanted to end the practice of changing their clocks an hour back or ahead every autumn and spring. She pointed out that a legislative proposal supported by the European Parliament in 2019 has been stalled in the Council of Ministers for several years.
Replying to Henriksson, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, said the commission has worked with member states to review the legal and practical challenges of ending the practice and plans to launch a new study later this year.
"I hope the commission will take action as soon as possible to put an end to the frustrating and unnecessary clock changes. Now is the right time," Henriksson said.
Advertising sick leave
A story about a medical company advertising its online physician consultation service has attracted widespread attention in the Finnish press. Helsingin Sanomat first reported on an Instagram ad that raised eyebrows.
It read: 'Need a break? Sick leave certificates are now easily available online.'
The ad from medical company Lääkäriin, featuring a beach scene with two lounge chairs, promotes its video doctor consultation service, implying that sick leave certificates could be obtained even without being ill.
"It's meant to be humorous and shows that sick leave certificates can also be obtained online," said Alvar Martti, Lääkäriin.net's lead doctor.
"Maybe it's a bit in the grey area," he told HS.
Martti said that no one has requested sick leave on false grounds and that the ad has not caused problems. He added that video consultations were partly introduced because benefits agency Kela reimburses them more than phone-based appointments, but less than in-person visits to the doctor.
He said the company hasn't received any significant feedback about the ad, though it has considered taking it down.
