Finnish competitiveness

Finnish competitiveness

Markku Koponen

Director of Education and Training

Confederation of Finnish Industries EK

International Degree Program Seminar

Helsinki 01.02.2007

01.02.2007 Markku Koponen

2

Changing operational environment places challenges on education systems

• Globalisation

• Ageing of labour and societies

• Mobility of labour; Immigrants; Multiculturalism

• Accelarating change in working life – Changing competence needs

• Significance of SME`s


3

Companies suffering from recruitment difficultiespercentage of EK member companies 1998 - 2005

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Industry Construction Services EK (total)

Source: Labour release 2005, EK


4

Reasons for recruiting difficulties in EK member companies

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Other reason

Unemployment insurance and social benefits

Working hours and salary

Poor field or company image

Job location

Personal characteristics

…of information technology skills

…of language skills

…of multitasking

…of workplace-specific education

…of primary vocational education

Lack of work experience

% of companies suffering from recruiting difficulties

Source: Labour release 2005, EK


5

Educational level of Finnish population 200320 – 64 –years olds

0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %

60-64

55-59

50-54

45-49

40-44

35-39

30-34

25-29

20-24 No postcomprehensiveschooldegrees/certificationsVocational training

Matriculation

Polytechnic, college-level or post-graduatepolytechnic degree

University degree

Source: Statistics Finland, Educational institution statistics 2004


6

Population that has attained tertiary education (2004)Percentage, by age group

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

25 to 34-year olds 45 to 54-years olds

Source: Education at a Glance, OECD Indicators 2006


7

Predicted educational structure for recruiting in EK member companies (total) in 2005

Polytechnic17 %

Vocational school48 %

University10 %

No vocational certification

25 %*

*includes those being recruited for apprenticeship training or vocational training

Source: ”Skilled personnel for business”, EK 2005


8

Boundaries between occupational categories becoming blurred

Implementers:

Responsible for

assembly,

installation,

servicing,

sales, etc.

Appliers:Responsible for product testing and customization, etc.

Seers:Responsible for creation, developmentand renewal of technology, etc.


9

Individual Sectors Converge

IT services

Financing and insurance

Social and health care services

Accommodation and catering

Wholesale and retail trade

Real estate services


10

Services to be created are around a technologic product

Servicing and repairs

24-hour standby

Consumer goods

Process consultation

Maintenance andconsultation agreements

Training

Financing Renewal andretailing

Establishment, use, maintenance

Relocation andre-installation

Hardware options and updating

Installationand

start-up

Spare parts

Administration

Source: BestServ, adaptation

Technological product


11

New Dimensions of Competences

Edu

catio

nal

leve

l

Multiple skills

Core

know-how


12

Competences contributing to corporate competitiveness

Business competence

Technological competence

Val

ues

and

attit

udes

Netw

orks

Creativity andinnovation

Service competence

Networkcompetence

Management ofmulticulturalism

Responsiblebusiness

Special competence/multiple skills

or interdisciplinary

approachDesign

competence


13

Emphasis on polytechnic areas of study/degrees for EK member companies

* e.g. bachelor of hospitality management, bachelor of social service and nurse

Bachelor ofbusiness

administration28 %

Polytechnic engineer

38 %

Service skills*31 %

Agricultureand forest

2 %Communications

1 %



14

Forecast recruitment need from polytechnics in 2005

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Services Industry Construction

Total 15 000 persons

Pe

rso

nn

el



15

Workplace-orientation the core of polytechnic studies

• Higher education is developed as an entity based on a dual model• The delegation of responsibilities for universities and polytechnics

is clearly defined • Regional networking and co-operation of institutions of higher

education • Redundancies in university and polytechnic studies must be

eliminated• At universities the master level degree is the primary degree used

in the working life • Polytechnic graduates should enter the workplace after receiving

a bachelor polytechnic degree


16

Finnish degree system of higher education

Universities Polytechnics

Years/credits

Bachelor

Master

Workinglife

Doctor

Bachelor-level

Workinglife

Masterlevel

Workinglife


17

Student Placements

• Objectives from the point of view of enterprise

– Develop positive corporate image

– Get to know and assess potential employees

– Transfer know-how from institutions of education to the enterprise (and vice versa)


18

Successful traineeship / student placement

• Close cooperation between enterprise, teacher and student

• Clear profile and position with the opportunity to learn and grow

• Clear agreements, objectives and schedules

• Task evaluation and performance assessment linked with development advice

• Linked to the future staffing needs


19

Vision:Finland is one of the most competitive countries in the world.Our country’s welfare is based on an open economy,successful companies and the strong capabilities of our people.

Confederation of Finnish Industries EK


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Open economy

Effective administration

Growth-promoting economic policy

Revitalised welfare society

Successful companies

Promotion of entrepre-neurship

Solid economic base

Well-functioning labour market

EK strategic messages

Strong capabilities

Top-quality education

Skilledmanagement

Dynamic environment

for innovation

EK is working to achieveunparalleled competitiveness


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Strong capabilities

Top-qualityeducation

Skilledmanagement

Dynamic environmentfor innovation

EK is working to achieve unparalleled competitiveness

Knowledge ofbusiness

Development ofworkplace community

Attractive compensationpackages for employees

Opportunities for multi-channel learning

High-quality content

Proper supply of skilled people

R&Dfinancing

Networking andpartnerships

Advanced research that can be utilisedin business

EK strategic messages


22

Finland,Home of Succesful

Companies

Documents

Finnish competitiveness