EU aid sought for re-employment of Finnair’s laid-off staff

Finland on Wednesday submitted an application to the European Commission for support from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for re-employment of the Finnair workers who were laid-off in October last.

The application concerns a total of about 500 persons who were made redundant by Finnair or its associated companies, according to an official press release.

The funding sought will be used for services promoting re-employment. The total budget of the project is estimated at about three million euro, of which 40% will be funded nationally.

The project will take place in the Uusimaa region.

“We want to respond to the situation in the aviation sector by applying for support from the EGF. It is important that the Finnish labour market can benefit from the diverse expertise of those made redundant by Finnair as soon as possible. EGF support will make it possible to offer customised services also for those who for one reason or another are not among the first ones to find new employment,” said Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen.

According to the EGF’s operating model, the support measures will start as soon as possible after the redundancy notice, even though preparing and processing the application itself is quite slow.

Services for those made redundant by Finnair were launched immediately after the layoffs started in October 2020. The employment office (TE office) in Uusimaa has hired more than 30 new experts to serve jobseekers from the aviation sector. All educational and other services for the jobseekers have been designed in close cooperation with Finnair.

Ten projects supported by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund have been implemented in Finland between 2007 and 2019.

In the EGF funding model, the EU’s funding share is 60% and the national contribution is 40%.