Education, competence and well-being are important, but additionally we must ensure a strong economy to safeguard the necessary services. A municipality that emphasizes opportunities for entrepreneurship and growth, and looks after its finances responsibly is well set to be a thriving community.
A well-handled municipal economy lays the best ground for functioning everyday life in the municipality. We want Finland’s municipalities to live with the times and to have the courage to develop without prejudice. While digital services give opportunities for better-functioning daily life, human contact must not be lost either.
We want our municipalities actively to attract sustainable investment and new business. Efforts to improve employment and entrepreneurship are the keys to growth. As employment and economic development services are now handled locally, it is easier to help jobseekers in ways that better account for local conditions. Successful labour migration demands inclusive municipalities and proper integration services.
SFP wants:
- to keep municipal and property taxation at reasonable levels
- to increase the cooperation between municipalities and trade and industry to create optimal conditions for investment and entrepreneurship
- to ensure municipal employment services work effectively, so that jobseekers are offered positions as quickly as possible
- to see jobseekers and employers finding each other across municipal borders
- to ensure beneficial operating conditions are guaranteed for work centres
- to work towards smarter and more sustainable procurement by increasing the weighting of quality criteria, accounting for climate impact and permitting partial bids
- to look after the well-being and occupational health of municipal employees
- to ensure municipalities actively work to improve labour migration, through international recruitment and welcoming family policies
- municipalities to adopt anonymous recruitment to increase equality among applicants
- to ensure that secondary school policies take into account the long-term labour needs of municipalities and regions
- to facilitate multiple residencies through digital municipal residency, for example
