Nokia decided at the beginning of this year to introduce diversity and equality as its core objectives. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

NOKIA has announced it has examined the wages of all of its roughly 103,000 employees worldwide to detect and eliminate unexplained wage inequalities.

Rajeev Suri, the CEO of Nokia, in May stated that the Finnish network equipment manufacturer will take immediate action to eliminate all statistically significant, unexplained wage differences – that is, differences not justified by work performance, experience, competency or location.

IQM, an Espoo-based quantum computing start-up, has closed an 11.2-million-euro seed capital round. (Handout / Jan Goetz – IQM)

ESPOO-BASED IQM has raised raised significant funding for driving disruptive advancements in quantum computing.

The Finnish start-up announced yesterday it has raised a total of 11.2 million euros in seed capital from an international group of investors, including Finland’s Maki.vc and Finnish Industry Investment (Tesi), and Germany’s MIG Fonds and Vito Ventures.

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Helsinki-based Finest Bay Area Development is moving forward with its plan to build an undersea railway tunnel between the Finnish capital and Estonia, Tallinn. (Handout – Finest Bay Area Development)

FINEST BAY AREA DEVELOPMENT is about to sign a letter of intent for constructing a roughly 100-kilometre undersea railway tunnel between Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia, with China Railway Group Limited (CREC), reports YLE.

The letter of intent is to be signed by the end of this week, Peter Vesterbacka, a founding partner and spokesperson of Finest Bay Area Development, told YLE on Tuesday.

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Markku Hautala, the shopkeeper of K-Citymarket Järvenpää, has revealed his desire to develop the supermarket into the most interesting of its kind in Europe. (Handout – Kesko)

K-CITYMARKET Järvenpää has been shortlisted as a finalist in the shop of the year category at IGD Awards, an annual event celebrating the best and most significant accomplishments in grocery trade.

The Järvenpää-based supermarket will take on competition from Giant Heirloom in Philadelphia (US), Sainsbury’s in Selly Oak (UK), Sam’s Club Now in Dallas (US), Pão de Açúcar in São Paulo (BR) and Supervalu in Clonakilty (IE).

Another edition of Arctic15 is over. The two day startup event was held on 5-6th of June in the Cable Factory here in Helsinki. Over 800 participants listened to speakers and panelists on two separate stages. Startups showcased their achievements and projects and met with investors in the “Dealroom”. Plenty of young volunteers made sure everyone finds his or her way around the venue. Delicious food was served.

Veikkaus, the Finnish national betting agency among others sponsors Veikkausliiga; the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. 

”Veikkaus’ year 2019 had a good start in terms of business. The result was affected especially by a Lotto jackpot, which rolled over for six weeks in a row. February also brought with it the biggest jackpot won in Lotto’s entire history, EUR 15.5 million,” says Olli Saarikoski, president and CEO of Veikkaus.

“At the beginning of the year, we had to make difficult decisions at Veikkaus, with the objective of revising our cost structure and enhancing our operations.”

“Atypical” workers may like flexibility – but they would prefer a steady job. The rise of work arrangements like self-employment, freelancing, gig work and zero-hour contracts is not due to workers wanting or demanding these jobs, but rather because they have no other choice. What’s more, workers would agree to earn less in order to increase their employment security.

These are the findings of new research from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), published today.

The rigidity of wages is eroding the competitiveness of Finland, view many of the business executives surveyed by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA). (Laura Ukkonen – Lehtikuva)

THE COMPETITIVENESS of Finland is under threat especially from wage rigidity, income taxation, the labour market system, shortage of skilled labour and ownership-related taxes, suggests a survey commissioned by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA).

Over 1,200 high-level business executives responded to the survey between November and December 2018.

Stockmann’s flagship department store in downtown Helsinki on 30 April 2019. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

STOCKMANN has announced it will shed around 150 positions after concluding consultative talks with its employees.

The Finnish department store operator revealed yesterday that most of the positions will be reduced by means of lay-offs, but it also assured that the number of salespeople at its department stores will remain unchanged.

Alko launched its own water, Välivesi, in June. The sales of alcohol-free products rose by 2 per cent year-on-year in May, according to the Finnish state-owned alcohol retailer. (Fanny Haga – Alko)

ALKO, the Finnish state-owned alcohol retailer, has reported that its sales decreased by 1.6 per cent year-on-year to 6.5 million litres in May and by 3.5 per cent year-on-year to 30.9 million litres between January and May.

One of the reasons for the drop were long drinks, whose sales have dipped sharply after their addition to the shelves of grocery shops, falling by 20.2 per cent in May.