Open Unemployment Fund A-kassa has agreed on a collaboration with working life company Barona. Starting April 1, the collaboration pilot offers employment opportunities to A-kassa members and individual support for job searching and career choices. This marks the first time an unemployment fund and a recruitment service company in Finland are working together to help people find employment.
“The cooperation with Barona helps our members find employment faster and discover new job opportunities. We want to help support our members already when they are under threat of unemployment – and this collaboration provides a completely new kind of opportunity to do so,” says A-kassa’s Head of Unemployment Fund Sami Aapro.
Approved in the summer of 2024, the legislative amendment enables unemployment funds to offer their members job search-related services and to utilise external partners in employment efforts.
“We have waited quite a while for an opportunity to help unemployment fund members in a way the new legislation allows us to. Barona helps jobseekers in finding suitable employment, and together with A-kassa we are able to speed up the employment process of their members and help jobseekers who are looking for new career opportunities, for instance. The scale of the cooperation between Barona and A-kassa will have a significant impact on improving employment opportunities for domestic jobseekers,” says Barona’s Service Director Arto Töyrä.
The collaboration provides a tailor-made job search channel for A-kassa members. Dedicated A-kassa recruiters process the applications using a wide-ranging approach to determine applicants’ suitability for the open vacancies Barona offers in various industries. In addition, A-kassa members may be offered apprenticeships and recruitment training programmes.
“Barona’s active role in guiding jobseekers is very important to A-kassa. As recruiters are able to distinguish jobseekers’ competences and suitability for various industries already in the search phase, finding employment becomes a smoother process. It is particularly valuable that a jobseeker can apply for several positions with a single application,” Aapro continues.
With approximately 250,000 members, A-kassa is Finland’s 3rd biggest unemployment fund. The unemployment fund represents industrial and construction workers and those employed by the cultural sector, among others. In January, approximately 13% of A-kassa members, i.e. 32,000+ people, received earnings-related allowance.
“The collaboration brings A-kassa valuable information from Barona regarding job opportunities and open vacancies in various industries, which helps us better target our communications. When we know which industries are actively recruiting, we can offer our members up-to-date information on the job market situation. This supports both the jobseekers and the employers and makes finding employment more efficient,” Aapro clarifies.
The new collaboration model opens up opportunities to advance job-related mobility within Finland. Available for application from A-kassa, mobility allowance is designed to encourage members to accept job offers further away from home, too.
The collaboration between Barona and A-kassa begins with a six-month pilot during which we aim to develop and build a cooperation model that is sustainable in the long-term.
Founded in 1999, working life company Barona is one of Finland’s biggest employers. The company creates solutions which establish a foundation for long-lasting working life using work itself, learning, well-being and technology as building blocks. In 2024, Barona helped more than 18,000 people find employment.
