Nokian Tyres was one of dozens of companies that trialled shorter working hours in Finland in the late 1990s. The results reportedly included significant increases in labour productivity. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

KIM GRAN, a former chief executive at Nokian Tyres, has denied the claim that a trial of shorter working hours considerably increased productivity at the factories of the tyre manufacturer in the late 1990s.

The claim was made earlier this week by Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications.

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A snap of one of the escaped cows earlier today (Image: Lehtikuva)

A LARGE HERD OF CATTLE, including several fully-grown bulls, have escaped from a farm in Laukaa in Central Finland. Authorities believe the best way to remove the danger is to neutralise the entire herd, and have appealed to local hunting associations to assist.

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The Finnish working-age population is believed to have contracted by more than 100,000 between 2010 and 2018, according to Statistics Finland. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

FINLAND should turn its attention to immigration to alleviate the problems caused by its shrinking working-age population, views Sami Pakarinen, the chief economist at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

“The topical employment debate has focused more on the labour force than on increasing the working-age population,” he wrote in his blog on Sunday.

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Security forces monitor the surroundings from a rooftop in Central Helsinki (Image: Lehtikuva)

THE VISIT OF RUSSIAN LEADER VLADIMIR PUTIN to Helsinki yesterday brought the city to a virtual standstill in some areas, with a security presence unseen since the visit of Donald Trump in 2018.

Minister of Education Li Andersson (Left Alliance) believes education policy is the most effective tool at the government’s disposal to promote employment. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

LI ANDERSSON (Left Alliance), the Minister of Education, has expressed her puzzlement with the amendments made to the education section of the draft budget by the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance has reportedly significantly slashed the increase in funding for higher education institutions proposed – in accordance with the government programme – by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Antti Kurvinen (left) and Juha Sipilä (right) of the Centre Party attended a meeting of the party’s ministerial group and working committees in Iisalmi on Monday, 19 August 2019. (Akseli Muraja – Lehtikuva)

THE CENTRE and the Swedish People’s Party have voiced their reservations about the idea of reducing working time considerably in Finland.

Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, stated in Turku on Saturday that the Social Democratic Party should incorporate a four-day, 24-hour work week into its political agenda for the near future.

Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, has rejected suggestions that the right-wing party is fuelling violence. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

JUSSI HALLA-AHO, the chairperson of the Finns Party, has offered his thoughts on the message directed at him by his fellow opposition leader, Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition.

Orpo urged Halla-aho in a speech given earlier this week to bear in mind that the popularity of the right-wing party comes with the responsibility to defend democracy and rules-based society in Finland.

Statistics Finland on Tuesday reported that the ranks of the unemployed decreased by 14,000 year-on-year to 169,000 in July 2019. (Laura Ukkonen – Lehtikuva)

FINLAND Chamber of Commerce (FCC) is urging the government to make bold decisions or risk letting its employment target slip out of reach.

Statistics Finland on Tuesday revealed that the trend of the employment rate stood at 72.4 per cent and that of the unemployment rate at 6.6 per cent in July. The ranks of the employed and the unemployed both decreased from the previous year, the former by 3,000 to 2,628,000 and the latter by 14,000 to 169,000.

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Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, says she would like to see a shorter work week become a reality in the near future. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

SANNA MARIN (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, made a bold working life-related proposal during a panel discussion held in conjunction with the 120th anniversary celebrations of the Social Democratic Party in Turku on Saturday.

Marin identified a considerably shorter work week as one of the objectives the party should incorporate into its agenda and pursue in the future.

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Finnish President Sauli Niinistö (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) held a joint press conference in the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on Wednesday, 21 August 2019. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday for what has become a regular working visit to the Finnish capital.

Putin and President Sauli Niinistö revealed in a news conference that they talked for roughly an hour in the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, touching on a wide variety of international issues such as the situation in Ukraine and efforts to combat black carbon in the Arctic.

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Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, has indicated she is confident that technological advances and productivity improvements will make shorter workdays a possibility in the future. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

MINISTER of Transport and Communications Sanna Marin (SDP) has elaborated on her proposal to switch to a four-day, 24-hour work week in Finland to Aamulehti.

Marin stated yesterday in a guest contribution to the newspaper that she is pleased by the debate prompted by her proposal and reminded that working time has decreased over the past century as a consequence of increasing labour productivity.

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Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Greens) addressed the media in a press conference held in conjunction of a meeting of the Green League in Helsinki on 12 August 2019. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

MARIA OHISALO (Greens), the Minister of the Interior, has voiced her concern about attempts to erode the sense of security in Finland.

“Finland is one of the world’s safest countries. It is disconcerting to notice how people are deliberately trying to erode the sense of safety […] by fuelling distrust and driving a wedge between different population groups,” she wrote in a blog on the website of the Green League on Friday.

Finland’s Minister for European Affairs, Tytti Tuppurainen (SDP), posed for a photo at a presser held in conjunction with the Social Democrats’ summer meeting in Helsinki on 16 August 2019. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

FINLAND has agreed to exercise the United Kingdom’s vote in EU meetings not attended by British representatives, several news outlets reported on Wednesday.

Tytti Tuppurainen (SDP), the Finnish Minister for European Affairs, told Demokraatti that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson extended the request during a phone conversation with Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP).

A member of local emergency services surveys the devastation (Image: Lehtikucva)

UNPRECEDENTED WILDFIRES HAVE BROKEN OUT in the popular resort island of Gran Canaria, causing as many as 9000 holidaymakers to evacuate. 

Finnish Minister of Finance Mika Lintilä (Centre) has expressed his concern that the lack of investments is undermining employment growth in Finland. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

FINNISH BUSINESSES are faced with a plethora of problems, views Risto Siilasmaa, the board chairperson at Nokia, F-Secure and Technology Industries of Finland.

Siilasmaa stated on Twitter on Sunday that the problems include old deep-rooted attitudes, lack of labour market flexibility, political talk about reducing working time, a chronic and exacerbating labour shortage, and a reluctance to copy proven solutions from other Nordic countries.