What? Employers in the cleaning sector demand easier access to foreign workforce.
But? In the Uusimaa region, most work permit extensions are rejected, because the wages of the workers do not cover living costs.
There aren’t enough workers for the cleaning sector, and that's why Finland should reduce restrictions on labour availability. That way, workforce coming from countries outside Europe could also get work permits. This is what you hear when employers discuss the topic in the media. But does the labour shortage have something to do with the fact that cleaners cannot make a living with the salary they get?
– When extensions on work permits are being processed, it's often noticed that a worker hasn't received the promised working hours, for a reason or another, and so the salary is lower than what was promised by the employer earlier on. Sometimes, workers don't even reach minimum income, states Sinikka Hyyppä from the Employment and Economic Development Office.
Hyyppä points out that between January and August in the Uusimaa region, up to 40% of foreign cleaners applying for an extension on their work permits received a negative response, mostly because their salaries didn't reach the minimum income level, which is often due to the small number of working hours and sometimes even underpayment. In other parts of Finland, the share of negative decisions was smaller, but so was the number of processed applications.
The level of a minimum wage, which is defined on the basis of the conditions in the Unemployment Security Act, was 1071 euros last year. The extended work permits for workers earning less than that are not supported by the Employment Office, and the police usually make their decision on the basis of it. As a result, the workers must return to their home country, unless the appeal process is successful. Thus the issue of labour shortage can now be seen in a new light.
The question is topical now, because the advisory board of the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment meets in February to decide on the restrictions regarding labour availability. For the past few years, it has been considered that there is enough unemployed workforce at hand in the cleaning sector, and therefore, no new work permits are granted for workers coming from counties outside the EU and the EEA. Nevertheless, this is what companies and Chambers of Commerce wish to change.
– It's very difficult to say what will happen. The pressure is nevertheless hard, Hyyppä states.
In the Uusimaa region, the number of unemployed in the cleaning sector has amounted to about a thousand, and the figure has increased slightly during the recession.The Ministry of Employment and the Economy also plans to revise the national conditions on the use of foreign workforce this spring.
Tuomas Lehto
