Consigning tape recorders, CDs and landline telephones to history
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) is urging the Finnish business community to boost productivity by applying the opportunities of an increasingly digital world.
Both sides of industry should be jointly looking for ways of using new technologies.
“The productivity leap that Finland is seeking can only arise through innovation, initiative and work to develop new products and services. Advances of this kind cannot be achieved without the employees, who remain the most valuable capital resource in any workplace,” explains SAK Development Unit Director Juha Antila.
A debate at the SAK Congress entitled Good Work in the Digital Age stressed that employees will be front-line troops in any campaign to enhance productivity, as they are the first recipients of customer feedback, the first to experience production bottlenecks, and the first to notice opportunities for optimising their work.
“Everyone in Finland should acknowledge that progress is the only constant, and consider how we can adapt and help others to do so. Businesses have already moved on from old landlines, tape recorders and CDs,” Antila observes.
Finland’s largest employee confederation is also calling on policymakers to plan and implement effective security measures when facing changes in the world of work.
“Employees in Finland no longer stick to one and the same job throughout their working lives. They need safety nets to manage career changes, enabling them to shift from one job to the next, updating their skills accordingly,” Antila explains.
“A growing number will work outside of formal employment relationships in future, and they can also expect to work in other countries at some career stage. This makes it important to improve social security systems. We should not allow the rewards of this work to leak away into the grey economy,” the Congress delegates conclude.
The impact of digitalisation was a key topic of debate at the SAK Congress in Tampere on Tuesday. The Good Work in the Digital Age seminar was the first in a series of debates on the future of work entitled A Time of Opportunities.
The 19th SAK Congress is taking place over three days from 6 to 8 June at Tampere Hall, where 259 delegates from SAK-affiliated trade unions will determine the general policy approach of Finland’s largest labour confederation for the coming few years and elect its new President.