The preparation of the Northern Central Finland employment area has progressed smoothly
The goal is to get face-to-face local service in municipalities

The responsibility for organizing employment services will be transferred to the municipalities from the beginning of 2025. The transfer of TE services to municipalities is a significant and new statutory task.
The area handling employment tasks must have a workforce of at least 20 people. The 000 municipalities of Northern Central Finland (Hankasalmi, Kannonkoski, Karstula, Kinnula, Kivijärvi, Konnevesi, Kyyjärvi, Laukaa, Pihtipudas, Saarijärvi, Uurainen, Viitasaari and Äänekoski) are establishing their own joint employment area of the municipalities, with the city of Äänekoski as the responsible municipality.
The employment area is to be established by an agreement between the municipalities. In the agreement, e.g. about the administration of the employment area, decision-making and the principles of cooperative management. The employment area would be led by an employment area board, which would have representation from each municipality.
When the Northern Central Finland employment area is realized, approximately 64 person-years of personnel from the TE office, the ELY center and the KEHA center will be transferred to the city of Äänekoski. The 2025 preliminary budget of the North Central Finland employment area is approximately 9,5 million euros. All participating municipalities participate in covering the costs.
- By preparing the Northern Central Finland employment area, we are aiming for a genuine local service model for employment management in the area. This means that some of the personnel who are transferred will work in the municipalities and receive the service face to face. There are almost 4 unemployed jobseekers in the employment area of Northern Central Finland, Äänekoski's employment manager Riikka Hytönen says.
- In Northern Central Finland, it has been exceptional that preparations have already been made from the autumn of 2022. The preparation has gone surprisingly smoothly for us and it is important that the cooperation is open and functional in the future, Äänekoski's mayor Matti Tuononen says.
The municipalities are now preparing for the change quickly. This week, the agreement between the municipalities and the organization plan will be reviewed at the councils' evening schools. All 13 municipal councils will make a decision on the establishment of a cooperation area during October. If the municipality does not join the Northern Central Finland employment area, it can wait for the Government to make a decision on which employment area the municipality will be included in.
Government decisions on employment areas will be made by the end of February 2024.
For more information:
Äänekoski City Manager Matti Tuononen, 040 572 3239, matti.tuononen@aanekoski.fi
Äänekoski's employment manager Riikka Hytonen, 040 194 6100, riikka.hytonen@aanekoski.fi
News published 5.10.2023