With the third oldest population in the world and with a fairly high proportion of the workforce in general government employment (24.9% in 2017), Finland has, for more than two decades, been focusing on maintaining a high quality of working life in its government administration for staff in the twilight of their careers. Notable results have been obtained through an innovative pension reform together with bold plans for keeping seniors in the workforce.

Finland replaced the statutory retirement age (previously set at 65) with flexible retirement between the ages of 63 and 68, without a reduction in the amount of pension, but with the introduction of an accrual rate linked to the person’s age: 1.5% between the ages of 18 and 53, 1.9% between the ages of 53 and 63, and as much as  4.5% between the ages of 63 and 68.

In addition to the revaluation of years worked to calculate pensions, the government – which is primarily banking on voluntary decisions to keep working – has rolled out an action plan in the public sector (central government and local authorities) with an eye to meeting the specific expectations of this category of staff.

As an offshoot of the FNPAW¹ (the first such guidelines in Europe), Kaiku occupational services provide support for developing wellbeing in the government workplace. Overseen by the State Treasury (tasked with buttressing HR reforms), they comprise:

• training (age management in teams, non-discrimination, knowledge transfer) for managers and the 200 work organisation correspondents

• information meetings and one-to-one consultations for staff having requested adjustments to their positions or assignments

The programme draws on a number of research works (Kesto, Tykes and Veto) directed by three ministries – Social Affairs and Health, Labour, Education – which are respectively centred on healthcare, the quality of working life and the skills of ageing workers.

These initiatives have had a quantifiable impact. Owing to this strong incentive policy, the proportion of civil servants over 55 years of age has been rising constantly and stood at 30.9% in 2017, which is 6 percentage points above the OECD average.

The first-ever Global Silver Economy Forum will convene in Helsinki in July 2019.


¹ Finnish National Programme for Aged Workers

For more information: valtiokonttori.fi (in English)