Introduction to commerce and working life for young people in the World’s Biggest Remote TET

The Commerce Sector Day will be held on Friday 26 November, when the Finnish Commerce Federation and its business partners will be able to offer thousands of young people around Finland an interesting coverage of the importance, professions, study paths, working life requirements and top themes of the largest sector in the Finnish economy.

“Currently, over one fifth of all workers under the age of 25 are employed by the commerce sector. In the report on the future of young people, published by Youth and Economy TAT, the commerce sector was the fifth most popular sector in which young people can see themselves working. However, there is also a risk of a shortage of experts if we are unable to attract new people to the sector,” says Mari Kiviniemi, Managing Director of the Finnish Commerce Federation.

The objective of the Finnish Commerce Federation is to make the commerce sector attractive to young people and to continue to motivate them and make them experience the attractiveness of commerce also during the pandemic, when the transition to working life may have been challenging. The World’s Biggest Remote TET (introduction to working life) day offers a great opportunity for the retail industry to reach thousands of young people for a full day. During the Remote TET day, we tell young people weighing their career choices about the diversity of the commerce sector and have a dialogue with them about current themes.

“We hope that we can encourage young people to seize the many opportunities provided by the commerce sector and become excited about the responsible and constantly evolving field of the future,” says Kiviniemi.

Genuine working life and tasks in the commerce sector with the help of business partners

The role of business partners in the Remote TET day is important, as businesses and the professionals who represent them help young people to see the commerce sector through genuine examples and stories of working life. Illustrated by presentations, videos and interviews prepared with businesses, the commerce sector is brought to the attention of young people through genuine situations. In workshops, it is also possible for businesses to give young people the real tasks in the commerce sector to be carried out remotely.

“Businesses constantly employ young people, trainees and those who are just becoming familiar with working life, so they have the best insight into what concerns young people starting their careers. I would like to thank all the businesses that have joined us,” says Kiviniemi.

The Finnish Commerce Federation called its member companies from various retail sectors, the grocery, specialty goods and technical wholesale trade sectors, as business partners for the Remote TET day. Business partners of the day are HOK-Elanto, Onninen Oy, Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Oy and Varusteleka Oy. The Vantaa-based school of commerce, Mercuria, will introduce young people to education in the commerce sector and the educational pathways leading to the sector.

“Young people who get to know the working life with us are genuinely important factors for the future. Overall almost 300 Alepa, Herkku, S-market and Prisma stores as well as the e-commerce of food offer a wide range of varied tasks and interesting career paths. One fifth of HOK-Elanto’s over 6,000 employees are under 25 years of age. Each year, we also hire around 1,500 summer employees. We are investing heavily in job orientation and we also provide TET people with a comprehensive picture of everyday life and tasks in the commerce sector, although remotely, this time,” says Kaarlo Virtanen, HRD Manager at HOK-Elanto.

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa believes that the specialty goods trade is able to offer interesting and versatile professional paths for young people.

“We want to be seen as an attractive employer among young people – now and in the future! Our cases are genuine encounters with the customer, and we hope that as many young people as possible will find their own case among the many opportunities in working life,” says Head of HR Kristian Tötterman at Suomalainen Kirjakauppa.

Technical wholesaler Onninen serves business customers in seven countries and the role of the technical wholesaler in providing future solutions is central.

“Professionals in our sector contribute to ensuring that our customers have access to more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products and solutions, such as solar panels or charging points for electric cars. Technology helps us create well-being responsibly and keep the wheels of society turning. We hope that many young people will be inspired to make choices related to their studies that open doors to the interesting world of technical commerce,” says Martti Forss, Managing Director of Onninen Oy.

“Working life may be perceived as boring, a necessary evil, but at Varusteleka, this is not the case. For us, it is important to show the people of the future that you can do a lot of things in the commerce sector and work can also be fun. We try to trade in a responsible manner and we are taking a heavy responsibility for preventing damage to the environment. For these reasons, you want to be involved at the Remote TET event, open up the veil to young people and show how Varusteleka operates,” says Jari Laine, CEO of Varusteleka.

“Mercuria trains skilled business professionals for the needs of working life. Our slogan “Suitable for you” sums up our flexible approach. This means that there are different options for building your own study path according to your personal needs and goals. We want to be involved in explaining these options and the diverse tasks and interesting career paths in the commerce sector,” says Satu Uronen, Communications Manager at Mercuria.

Learn more about the Commerce Sector Day ( Finnish) >>

Additional information:

Mari Kiviniemi, Managing Director, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)50 511 3189, mari.kiviniemi@kauppa.fi

Commerce sector’s Remote TET Day content:

Jaana Sivén, Communications Specialist, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0)50 438 0442, jaana.siven@kauppa.fi

Bate Ismail, Economist, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358(0) 40 526 0942

Moona Naakka, Education Coordinator, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358(0) 46 921 0857, moona.naakka@kauppa.fi

Commerce Sector Day business partners:

Kaarlo Virtanen, HRD Manager, HOK-Elanto, tel. +358 (0)10 76 60304, kaarlo.virtanen@sok.fi

Kristian Tötterman, Head of HR, Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Oy, +358 (0)50 311 5530, kristian.totterman@suomalainen.com

Martti Forss, Managing Director, Onninen Oy Finland and Baltic countries, tel. +358 (0)400 840 598, martti.forss@onninen.com

Jari Laine, CEO, Varusteleka Oy, tel. +358 (0)400 769 686, jari.laine@varusteleka.fi.

Satu Uronen, Communications Manager, Mercuria Kauppaoppilaitos Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 120 7107, satu.uronen@mercuria.fi,

What is the World’s Biggest Remote TET?

Together with five different sectors, Youth and Economy TAT is coordinating a Remote TET week, allowing young people from anywhere in Finland to participate. During the week, young people get acquainted with five different industries in five days. With the help of experts from the industries, all young people have the opportunity to experience working life from different perspectives. In addition to the commerce sector, other industries presented during the week are Finance Finland, Technology Industries of Finland, the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland and Service Sector Employers.