Temporary and part-time work arrangements have grown in Finland. While such jobs provide flexibility, they also carry disadvantages from an employee perspective including lower wages, less training opportunities, and higher poverty risks compared to permanent full-time roles. Temporary jobs in particular present challenges, as they may function as bridges to stable employment for some but traps for others depending on factors like gender, age, and education level. Policymakers should focus on ensuring equal skills development and treatment for all types of workers to mitigate risks from non-standard employment contracts.

1. Consequences of temporary and part-time work
in Finland from an employee perspective
LMO conference "Typical and atypical work contracts -
advantages and disadvantages from the labour market
perspective"
8-9 April 2013
Merja Kauhanen, Labour Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki
Finland
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

2. Outline of the presentation
• How common temporary and part-time work is in Finland &
reasons for doing temporary and part-time work
• Consequences of temporary and part-time work from an
employee perspective
 How temporary jobs are experienced by employees
 Quality of jobs (core indicators) by type of contract
 Wages & poverty risks
 Are temporary jobs bridges or traps? Transitions from these
jobs
• Policy implications
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

3. Atypical employment relationships in Finland
in 2011
Both genders Female Male
(1000) % (1000) % (1000) %
Wage and salary earners 2143 100 1091 100 1052 100
Permanent full-time job 1585 74.0 734 67.3 851 80.9
Atypical total 511 26.0 356 32.7 201 19.1
Permanent part-time 221 10.3 155 14.2 66 6.3
Temporary full-time job 251 11.7 146 13.4 105 10.0
Temporary part-time job 85 4.0 56 5.1 30 2.8
Temporary total 336 15.7 202 18.5 135 12.8
Part-time total 307 14.3 211 19.3 96 9.2
Source: Statistics Finland, LFS
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

4. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
%
Spain
Poland
Portugal
Cyprus
Slovenia
Netherlands
Finland
Sweden
France
Germany
EU15
Italy
LABOUR INSTITUTE
EU27
2011 (Eurostat, LFS)
Greece
Ireland
Belgium
Female
Austria
Czech Republic
Male
Denmark
Hungary
Luxembourg
Malta
Slovakia
United Kingdom
Latvia
FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
Bulgaria
Share of temporary workers by gender in
Estonia
Lithuania
Romania

5. 0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
Netherlands 80,0
%
Germany
Austria
United Kingdom
Sweden
EU15
Denmark
Luxembourg
Ireland
EU27
France
Italy
LABOUR INSTITUTE
(Eurostat, LFS)
Malta
Spain
Finland
Portugal
Estonia
Slovenia
Cyprus
Poland
Latvia
Females
Romania
Greece
Lithuania
Males
Hungary
Czech Republic
FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Share of part-time workers by gender in 2011

6. Reason for doing temporary job: could not find a
permanent job by gender and age in 2011, %
(Statistics Finland, LFS)
%
100
90 87,5
Female Male
80,0
78,4 78,6
80 76,7
69,2
70
65,5 64,3
60,8
60 57,5
50
42,6
39,7
40
30
20
10
0
15-64 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

7. Reasons for doing part-time work by gender in
Finland in 2011 (Statistics Finland, LFS)
%
40,0
36,7
35,0
Females Males
30,0 28,4
26,7
26,0
24,4
25,0
23,0
20,0
15,0
13,2
10,0
10,0 9,3
5,0
2,2
0,0
Could not find a full-time In education or training Looking after children or Own illness or disability Wants to work part-time
job incapacitated adults for other reasons
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

8. Experiences of temporary jobs by employees
(Finnish Quality of Work Life Survey, 2008)
Female Male
(%) (%)
Financial insecurity is strenuous 60 52
Insecurity puts under mental strain
45 34
Makes it difficult to make future plans
56 54
Misses the security related to permanent
employment relationship 70 62
Fixed-term employment is associated with
the positive feeling of non-commitment 52 57
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

9. Economic and social consequences of
temporary and part-time work arrangements
 The growth of temporary and part-time employment has
raised interest in the economic and social consequences of
these work arrangements. One essential question in this
context is the quality of jobs and worker well-being
 Temporary and part-time workers constitute a very
heterogeneous group and there are differences in labour
market status and quality of jobs within these groups
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

10. Indicators of job quality
• Core indicators (Green, 2006):
i) wages (including fairness of wages)
ii) the skills involved in a job (including lifelong learning and
career development)
iii) job autonomy
iv) work effort
v) low risks and security (employment security and physical
security)
vi) justice (e.g. equality, non-discrimination)
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

11. Skills development indicators: perceived training
possibilities and participation in employer-funded training
(Kauhanen and Nätti, 2011):
Distinct differences in the perceived skills development
possibilities by the type of employment relationship
Good training possibilities by the type of Participation in employer-funded training
employment relationship by the type of employment relationship
0,5 0,7
0,45
0,6
0,4
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
0,35 0,5
0,3
0,4
0,25
0,3
0,2
0,15 0,2
Involuntary part-time Involuntary temporary
Other temporary Other temporary
0,1 Involuntary part-time Involuntary part-time
Other part-time 0,1 Other part-time
Permanent full-time Permanent full-time
0,05
0 0
1997 2003 2008 1997 2003 2008
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

12. Skills development indicators: possibilities to learn and
grow at work and career prospects (Kauhanen and Nätti,
2011)
Good opportunities to learn and grow at
Good career prospects by the type of
work by the type of employment
employment relationship
relationship
0,5
0,14
0,45
0,12
0,4
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
0,35 0,1
0,3
0,08
0,25
0,2 0,06
0,15
Involuntary temporary 0,04
Other temporary Involuntary temporary
0,1 Involuntary part-time Other temporary
Other part-time Involuntary part-time
0,05 Permanent full-time 0,02 Other part-time
Permanent full-time
0
0
1997 2003 2008
1997 2003 2008
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

13. Job autonomy and threat of unemployment (Kauhanen and
Nätti, 2011)
Distinct differences in the perceived job autonomy and threat of
unemployment by the type of employment relationship
Job autonomy by the type of employment Threat of unemployment by the type of
relationship employment relationship
0,35 0,8
0,3 0,7
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
0,6
Ennustettu todennäköisyys
0,25 Involuntary temporary
Other temporary
Involuntary part-time
0,5 Other part-time
0,2 Permanent full-time
0,4
0,15
0,3
0,1 Involuntary temporary 0,2
Other temporary
Involuntary part-time
0,05 Other part-time
Permanent full-time 0,1
0 0
1997 2003 2008 1997 2003 2008
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

14. Wages
• Temporary work: The average wage of temporary workers
lags those of permanent workers even after controlling for the
individual and job characteristics in Finland. Wage penalty
was on average around seven percent in 2007 (Statistics
Finland)
• Part-time work: Lower working hours -> lower wages
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

15. In-work poverty risk by type of contract in 2007 (source: Working
poor in Europe): Part-time and temporary workers have
substantially higher in-work poverty risks than full-time and
permanent workers
%
16
15
14
13
Finland EU25
12
12
10
10
8
7
6
5
4
3 3
2
0
Full-time Part-time Permanent Temporary
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

16. Transitions from temporary jobs
 As regards consequences of atypical jobs an essential question is
related to labour market mobility: do temporary jobs act a stepping
stone to permanent employment or are they dead ends not helping
workers to advance their working careers
• Preliminary results (Kauhanen and Nätti, 2012):
 Involuntary temporary work seems to work better as a bridge to
permanent employment for men than for women, for young workers
compared to older ones, and for highly educated compared to those
with low education.
 For older workers and workers with low education involuntary
temporary jobs lead more often to a negative career development in
the labour market, such as transitions to unemployment and outside
labour force.
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

17. Policy implications
 In the labour market where an increasing number of workers
are exposed to uncertainty and possible career interruptions
the role of skills development is becoming increasingly
important
->highlights the importance of providing equal opportunities for
all workers to learn and get training at work, to update their
skills, and to increase their human capital.
 Equal treatment in legislation & collective agreements
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

18. Thank you for your attention!
LABOUR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH