Helsinki (11.01.2016 - Heikki Jokinen) The number of redundancies in the private sector has continued to remain at over 10,000 a year according to the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK.
In 2015 a total of 11,907 employees lost their jobs, according to SAK estimates. In the year 2014 the number was 12,447. The last time the figure was below 10,000 was in the year 2010, says SAK which have been keeping statistics since 2006.
The statistics are based on information made publically available and do not include the municipal sector. This means that the actual figures are even greater still.
Major redundancies took place at Microsoft Mobile, which closed its unit in the city of Salo letting 2,300 people go. Other major redundancies took place at the IT services company Tieto with 435 people left without work.
Sanoma Media slashed 241 jobs and Rovio Entertainment 198. Rovio is the company behind the most downloaded mobile game of all time, Angry Birds.
The total number of redundancies in the information and communication sector rose to almost 3,800. This is one quarter more than last year.
It did not get any better in industry where redundancies rose by 15 per cent to almost 3,700. SSAB shed 180 jobs at its Raahe steel mill and the Mondi Group closed their paper mill in Lohja, where 180 people lost their jobs.
In the retail sector there were less redundancies than last year. The figure fell from 2,228 to 871. A major loss of jobs in this sector is due to the closing of the Stockmann department store in the city of Oulu, leading to 230 redundancies.
Last year the number of employees to get a taste of mandatory consultation with regard to possible personnel cuts was almost 114,000. In 2014 it was 109,000. The Act of Co-operation stipulates that in all undertakings with more than 20 employees, any planned redundancies are subject to mandatory consultation with personnel representatives.
The foremost mandatory consultation exercise still pending at the beginning of 2016 is at the University of Helsinki, where 8,000 jobs are to be negotiated just now. The number of redundancies will be announced in January.
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2014 saw a marked increase in redundancies in the service sector (14.01.2015)