The Pathfinder Blog is one year old; this is a good time to look back on the past year, and ahead to the future of the blog. It has been a pleasure to hear that the blog has attracted attention, and that its contents have been found interesting and useful by, among others, public authorities and researchers. From the very beginning, this blog has been shaped by The Ami Foundation’s strategy to build the best labour market of The Nordics in the Finnish capital region. For us to understand what needs to change at home, we need to look at the labour market situation in other metropolitan areas of the region, too.
We have already long known that, in Finland, key labour market indicators such as employment and unemployment rates have lagged behind comparative countries, and the same phenomenon can be seen when comparing capital regions in The Nordics. However, these indicators mask many factors, such as the labour market situation of different age groups, skills development, and involuntary part-time work, which I have discussed in more detail in earlier blogs in The Pathfinder.
These phenomena and the labour markets’ change needs are complex, and they intertwine in many ways. A closer look at one phenomenon often opens up new questions, and further deepens the discussion. Different disciplines bring their own perspectives, and different stakeholders look at the phenomena from their own perspectives. Some of the solutions to labour market challenges are also dividing opinions, as Professor Harri Jalonen noted in his November 2024 post on The Ami Foundation’s Pulssi blog.
Over the past year we have realised that not everything can be measured statistically. Statistical comparisons between different capital regions are also complex and require interpretation, as national statistics differ from country to country, and comparable statistics are not available for all countries. The original idea behind The Pathfinder blog was to define criteria that would allow us to identify the best labour markets in The Nordics. During the course of the year, however, we have shifted our focus to certain thematic areas. These are the areas that we will concentrate on from a labour market information perspective, and where we hope to see positive developments. These thematic areas fall within our programme priorities . In the 2025 edition of The Pathfinder blog, I will continue to work on themes such as NEET youth, the labour market situation of people with specific work ability, and employment of seasoned workers . I also intend to expand the blog to cover well-being and resilience at work, which is one of the Foundation’s programme priorities.
The Ami Foundation has chosen three key programme areas, and it is through these areas that we will contribute to our strategic goal of creating the best labour market in The Nordics. The topics discussed in this blog are concrete examples of the priorities in which we want to see change within our key programme areas. Labour markets are influenced by many factors, and we do not claim that the development of the themes we have chosen alone would be sufficient to achieve the best labour markets in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. However, we believe that through these themes we can play our part in making a positive difference, and make progress towards matching the employment and unemployment rates of our comparative regions.
Statistical data and research literature alone are not sufficient to provide a comprehensive picture of labour market phenomena in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. During 2024, I met dozens of researchers and representatives of research institutes, public authorities and private organisations, from whom I have gained valuable insights into the needs of labour market research, opportunities for further research, and the views of labour market stakeholders. Cooperation is one of The Ami Foundation’s three core values. Without it, the Foundation could not progress towards its goal of building the best labour market in the The Nordics. Without cooperation, the understanding we have built up over the course of 2024 would not be at the level it is now. So now, at the end of 2024, I would like to thank all our partners on behalf of the whole Foundation. In particular, I would like to thank Statistics Finland, Helsinki’s Urban Research and Statistics Unit, and the other Nordic statistical authorities, all of whom have contributed significantly to the acquisition and interpretation of Nordic statistics.
The aim of The Ami Foundation’s information production is not only to increase our own knowledge of the labour markets, but also to provide information to those involved in employment activities in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. We hope that the themes we raise will inspire researchers and project teams to tackle current labour market issues and promote change on our journey towards the best labour market in The Nordics. At the end of 2024, we added a new section on the Nordic labour market on the Finnish version of our website, which aims to summarise and share the information we have collected. While, during 2024, we mapped out our direction in this blog, our aim for 2025 is to dive deeper into the selected themes, as we have already done for NEET youth in 2024. In relation to NEET youth, we have published several blog posts, organised a seminar and a workshop, and expressed our interest in funding projects that promote employment and training pathways for young people outside of work and education. In November 2024, we also launched an advocacy campaign.
In 2025, we will continue to collaborate with our stakeholders, and look forward to hearing the views of experts from different sectors on the changing needs in the labour market. Finally, we would like to remind you that The Ami Foundation’s call for individual research grants is open from 16 December 2024 to 27 January 2025 and the call for project grants is open all year round. On behalf of myself and the whole of The Ami Foundation, I wish the readers of this blog a relaxing end of the year.