The transfer of TE Services from the state to municipalities was decided in spring 2021. This decision is based on an objective recorded in the Government Programme that aims to enhance municipalities’ role in employment services. Implementing this reform became the responsibility of the current government. The responsibility for providing TE Services will change as of 1 January 2025 (Act on the Organisation of Employment Services 380/2023).  
 
As of 1 January 2025, most of the tasks of the current TE Offices and the personnel managing them will be transferred to the employment authority of the municipal sector. For clients, this will be reflected in a change of the authority responsible for the services and, in some respects, renewal of the content of the services. As a rule, there will be no changes to the statutory services and the rights and obligations related to them. The main objective is to ensure that employment services, as part of the basic services provided by municipalities, are close to both personal, business and employer clients. Efforts are also being made to ease up access to employment services and actual employment for people who have moved to Finland from elsewhere. 
 
The reform aims to implement a service structure that will contribute to rapid employment of jobseekers and increase the productivity, accessibility, effectiveness and diversity of employment and business services. At the heart of the reform are equal access to services, the realisation of linguistic rights and the safeguarding of services for those who are disadvantaged on the labour market. 

South-Eastern Finland to have three employment areas 

As a result of extensive preparatory work carried out in South-Eastern Finland in late 2023, it was confirmed that the three following employment areas will be responsible for the tasks of the employment authority as of 1 January 2025: the South Karelia employment area, the South Kymenlaakso employment area and the Kouvola employment area. In South Karelia and South Kymenlaakso, the services will be organised using the responsible municipality model, while the cities of Lappeenranta and Kotka will be responsible for producing the services. Kouvola will form its own area and be responsible for its own services. 
 
Regardless of the way in which the services are organised, each municipality in the employment area plays an important role in implementing the reform and ensuring the availability of services. The Act on the Organisation of Employment Services is based, among other things, on the principle of strengthening local and regional vitality while managing employment as a public and free basic service to which local residents are entitled. In addition to personal clients, the overall service solution takes into account entrepreneurs and persons starting business activities as well as immigration as part of securing a sufficiently skilled workforce. 

Reform to be carried out with focus on clients, services and expertise 

The reform will be carried out so that jobseekers and employers in need of labour can meet each other more easier than before. The resulting high employment rate will have a positive impact on people’s well-being, thanks to improved local vitality. The matching of jobs and employees is supported by services that provide the best benefits for all parties. 
 
In South-Eastern Finland, the preparation of the reform has been carried out in close cooperation with the TE Office, the ELY Centre, the Finnish Immigration Service, municipalities, educational institutions, wellbeing services counties and the third sector. The cooperation has aimed to enable the transfer of already existing, well-functioning models to the new employment authorities, as well as to further strengthen and streamline them. With the intensification of regional network cooperation, new aspects may be created in the services. The preparation has utilised, among other things, the methods and perspectives of service design, carefully taking into account the legislation that governs the relevant operations. 
 
At the end of 2024, the future employment areas will present their employment and immigration services, to which we at the TE Office will direct our clients after the turn of the year. Through effective communications, we aim to ensure as smooth a transfer as possible by sharing information on the redirection of services and work practices, both for our own staff and our clients. The staff of the TE Office will follow the change and move to future employment areas to continue as experts in employment services.
 
The change does not currently require any action from our clients, and the TE Services will continue in their current manner until 31 December 2024.
 
Recording of the TE-live information session about the TE2024 reform in South-Eastern Finland: 

• TE-palvelut siirtyvät kunnille - mitä uudistus tuo Kaakkoon? (te-live.fi)

Read more about the TE2024 reform

National news coverage: 

• Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö – TE services reform 2024 (tem.fi)
• Työmarkkinatori – kolme mittavaa uudistusta (tyomarkkinatori.fi)
• Kuntaliitto – TE-palvelut 2024-uudistus (in Finnish, kuntaliitto.fi)  

Regional news coverage:

• Etelä-Karjalan työllisyysalue – TE2024-uudistus (in Finnish, lappeenranta.fi)  
• Etelä-Kymenlaakson työllisyysalue – TE2024-uudistus (in Finnish, kotka.fi)  
• Kouvolan työllisyysalue – TE2024-uudistus (in Finnish, kouvola.fi)