Finland to receive EU aid to support redundant Finnair staff

Finland applied for aid from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) in December due to redundancies announced by Finnair.

“The European Commission advised us today that we will receive the requested aid. The EGF aid will also enable customised services for former staff members who are not among the first to secure new employment for various reasons",  Minister of Labour Tuula Haatainen explained on Thursday.

Finland submitted its application to the European Commission on 30 December 2020.

The application concerns a total of about 500 former employees who lost their jobs at Finnair and related companies.

The funding was requested for services to promote re-employment.

The total estimated budget for the project is approximately three million euros, including a national contribution of 40 per cent. The project will be implemented in the Uusimaa region of southern Finland.

The European Parliament and the Council have yet to approve the Commission’s proposals.

Support measures

The EGF approach involves launching support measures at the earliest opportunity after staff dismissals, even though preparing and processing an application is a fairly time-consuming process.

Services for redundant Finnair staff were launched immediately when the first dismissals were announced in October 2020.

The Uusimaa Employment and Economic Development Office hired more than 30 new specialists for a team serving clients from the aviation cluster.

The retraining and other services provided to redundant staff were designed in close and effective partnership with Finnair.