employment

The Government's employment measures are not a sufficient response to the worsening labour shortage

The Finnish Commerce Federation is disappointed in the Government’s decision to postpone some of its employment measures until next year. The decisions that have now been made will only alleviate the incentive traps for students and pensioners. On the positive side, the budget meeting did not decide to increase taxes on earned income and thus cut purchasing power. The decisions will not improve the international competitive strength of commerce.

COVID-19 boosted commercial growth – employment fell

Retail sector turnover grew by almost four per cent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, COVID-19 treated commerce industries very differently. The growth in last year’s turnover is not visible as growth in the number of people employed in the commerce sector or as new companies in the commerce sector. Instead, they continue their downward trend. The pandemic helped online retail reach record figures. Ensuring purchasing power, competence and entrepreneurship is key when advancing to the time after COVID-19.

The competitive strength of services is also crucial to the strengthening of employment

The decisions of the government’s budget session are not sufficient for resolving employment problems, and the tax decisions are also still inadequate. The Finnish Commerce Federation calls for the government to take the service sector and competitive strength of commerce into consideration alongside other sectors so that the wheels of the economy can be set in motion.

Retail trade grows while parts of specialty goods trade were hit hard by the coronavirus – structural reforms bring more jobs to the branch

The coronavirus crisis gave a record-high boost to the sales of electronics, hardware and daily consumer goods in places, but many branches of the specialty goods trade suffered. Simultaneously, the loss of retail trade jobs has accelerated. The potential second wave of the coronavirus towards the end of the year could cut the predicted 2.5 per cent growth in retail business in half and speed up the loss of jobs. Bold and comprehensive structural reforms are called for to eliminate the incentive traps tormenting the commerce sector.

Detailed contents of the emergency provisions in the Collective Agreement for Opticians and employment legislation

The Finnish Commerce Federation and the Union of Private Sector Professionals ERTO have agreed on changes to the Collective Agreement for Opticians in accordance with the recommendations of the central labour market organisations in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. The changes apply to the notice period for lay-offs, the negotiating period for co-operation negotiations and the re-employment of dismissed employees.

Detailed contents of the emergency provisions in the Collective Agreement for Commercial Transport Workers and employment legislation

The Finnish Commerce Federation and the Transport Workers’ Union AKT have agreed on changes to the Collective Agreement for Commercial Transport Workers in accordance with the recommendations of the central labour market organisations in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. The changes apply to the notice period for lay-offs, the negotiating period for co-operation negotiations and the re-employment of dismissed employees.

Specialty goods got retail trade growing – international competition intensifies

Retail business turnover developed well in 2019. A spike in specialty and department store trade during late summer and autumn sped up the growth. However, the employment rate of the retail sector dropped from last year due to increased efficiency of supply chains and operations as well as automation and international competition, among other things.

The retail sector reaches its economic peak – companies disappearing poses a future threat

The business sector has been growing at a rate of around two per cent per year for the past few years now. Next year, the growth will slow down, but it will not stop. However, the turnover growth* in wholesale slowed down already last year and has even contracted slightly since the beginning of this year. According to the Finnish Commerce Federation’s forecast, the next decade will bring about great changes to corporate structures and the number of companies in the commerce sector. This will also be reflected in employment.