Finnish Immigration Service to begin cooperation negotiations with staff about temporary lay-offs

24.10.2019 14.03 | Published in English on 24.10.2019 at 16.13

Press release

The Finnish Immigration Service is considering temporary lay-offs and will begin cooperation negotiations with its personnel. The negotiations involve the entire personnel, which consists of 1,025 employees.

The agency is considering laying off its personnel for 14 days in November–December. The exact duration of the temporary lay-offs and the number of employees affected will be determined during the negotiations. The agency does not propose terminations of contracts or reductions of employment contracts to part-time contracts.

Once the negotiations begin and proceed, we will inform our customers and our interest groups about the effects of the temporary lay-offs. The Finnish Immigration Service aims to ensure that it can continue offering its services in a reduced capacity even during the temporary lay-offs.

The reason for the cooperation negotiations is the agency’s financial situation. The Finnish Ministry of Finance has proposed that an additional 2.5 million euros should be reserved for the Finnish Immigration Service in a supplementary budget for the end of the year. However, this sum is not enough to cover this year’s deficit. It is estimated that an additional appropriation of approximately 2 million euros is needed. More information about the results of the budget negotiations and their implications will be available in the end of October. If the financial situation of the Finnish Immigration Service changes, the cooperation negotiations will be terminated.

To balance its financial situation, the Finnish Immigration Service must cut expenses even next year. Next year, the number of employees is going to be reduced compared to this year. A significant share of the fixed-term contracts ending at the end of this year will not be prolonged for next year. In 2020, the number of employees at the Finnish Immigration Service will be approximately 900. Compared to this year, the number of employees will decrease by approximately 120 persons.

In Finland, the Finnish Immigration Service is the agency responsible for processing the residence permit applications from international employees, students and family members as well as for registering EU citizens’ right of residence. It is also responsible for processing asylum applications. The Finnish Immigration Service runs the state-owned reception centres of Oulu and Joutseno and the detention units of Helsinki and Joutseno.

The Finnish Immigration Service has offices in Helsinki, Raisio, Lappeenranta, Vaasa, Oulu, Pudasjärvi, Tampere, Lahti, Kuopio, Rovaniemi and Kuhmo. There is also an office in Mariehamn that is open at regular intervals.