Experiment on recruitment subsidy for sole entrepreneurs

The experiment on recruitment subsidy for sole entrepreneurs is aimed at determining the impact of financial support paid for salary costs on their hiring their first employee. The objective of the experiment is to lower entrepreneurs’ threshold for recruiting employees, create new employer companies, and promote the growth of companies and employment.

The experiment on recruitment has been planned to take as little of the entrepreneur’s time as possible and to be as effortless as possible. The background of the employee to be recruited with the subsidy does not play any role. For example, the employee may transfer to the company from another workplace or be unemployed. The application can also be submitted before the entrepreneur knows who they will be recruiting.

The experiment will start in March 2022. The entrepreneurs participating in it have until the end of July 2022 to apply for the subsidy. Previous similar experiments include the basic income experiment.

Who is the experiment aimed at?

The experiment on recruitment subsidy is aimed at sole entrepreneurs and other companies in which all employees are entrepreneurs. A random sample of sole entrepreneurs operating in mainland Finland will be selected to the experiment. The entrepreneurs well be picked from the register information of the Finnish Tax Administration.

The recruitment subsidy is aimed at entrepreneurs who have not employed external workforce during the 12 months preceding the experiment. The turnover of the entrepreneurs selected to the experiment may have been at least EUR 15,000 and at most EUR 1 million in 2021. The entrepreneurs selected to the experiment will be informed about their participation in a letter during March.

All companies in the target group of the experiment on recruitment subsidy have an equal opportunity to be selected to the experiment. The target group and its control group will be selected using the STATA program and a randomisation code.

Recruitment subsidy amount and granting the subsidy

An entrepreneur participating in the experiment may receive a subsidy of EUR 10,000 for the salaries of the first employees. The subsidy will cover 50 per cent of the salaries for a maximum of 12 months. The recruitment subsidy will be granted to a maximum of 1,165 sole entrepreneurs.

To be granted the recruitment subsidy

• the company must have been selected to the experiment on recruitment subsidy,
• a favourable decision on the subsidy must have been issued to the company,
• the employment relationship of the employee to be recruited must begin by 31 July 2022,
• the company must fulfil the other criteria for the recruitment subsidy.

Applying for support

The entrepreneur participating in the experiment applies to the e-services of regional state administration for the subsidy. The current instructions for the Suomi.fi service are followed when logging in to the e-services of regional state administration. Logging in requires strong identification using online banking codes or a mobile certificate.

The entrepreneur does not need to apply for the payment of a granted subsidy as the subsidy is paid monthly on the basis of the salary information reported in the Incomes Register. The company will take care of transferring the salary information to the Incomes Register.

Additional information

For more information on the experiment on recruitment subsidy, contact the Southeast Finland TE Office by telephone on 0295 042 001 or by email at rekrytointituki@te-toimisto.fi.

• Contact details of the Southeast Finland TE Office (in Finnish)
• The Experiment on Recruitment Subsidy Act 20/2022 (finlex.fi) (in Finnish)
• More information on the experiment on recruitment subsidy on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment website (tem.fi)