We again conducted the Jäsenpulssi survey to ask our members’ feelings regarding both work and unemployment. We received a huge number of responses, more than 20,000! Thanks to all respondents.

According to the survey, the general atmosphere among our members is positive. The summer has started with confidence, and the majority (75%) feel that their employment situation is either very good or quite good. Compared to the beginning of this year, the feeling has improved somewhat! The most common feelings arising from own employment situation were confident, useful, and meaningful. On the other hand, every fifth respondent experiences stress due to their current employment situation.

We also asked about your personal experience in unemployment and the feelings arising from unemployment. Most of the respondents (69%) have personal experience in unemployment. According to the Jäsenpulssi survey, most of the feelings associated with unemployment were negative. 47% of the respondents had experienced anxiety, 38% insufficiency, and 30% shame. On the other hand, 19% of the respondents said that unemployment provided them with feeling of freedom, and among 18–24-year-olds that was the case with nearly every third respondent.

We also asked you to evaluate YTK’s activities. All areas of activities received uniformly high ratings. Compared to January, the smooth flow of services has improved further in your opinion, which is a great source of joy for us!

Many students change the exam books for a summer job around this time. Early summer is also the right time to fix the YTK membership, as it provides great benefits to students.

Many are hesitant about the membership of an unemployment fund during studies, because those receiving study grant are not entitled to receive unemployment daily allowance. Membership in an unemployment fund is nevertheless a sensible choice for a student. The reason is the condition regarding employment, the fulfilling of which is a requirement for receiving earnings-related daily allowance. As a member of an unemployment fund students can accumulate their condition regarding employment for earnings-related daily allowance, thus ensuring their future earnings-related security.

The Finnish government has proposed a continuation of the emergency laws on unemployment security until the autumn. The previous continuations was until the summer. From the point of view of the YTK Unemployment Fund, the continuation of the emergency laws will ease the position of the benefit applicant and make its implementation smoother.

OmaYTK is our electronic service in which you can fill out the applications for daily allowance, send attachments, and discuss with us. Previously, all messages were listed one after another, which made it slightly inconvenient to figure out the situation on the whole. Now the discussion works more like modern instant messaging services, and it is easier to separate different discussions from each other. The discussions divided by topic also allow us to serve you more quickly.

Do you master Excel files, know the latest tricks with Teams, and have command of management skills? The membership of the YTK Association includes a library of thousands of online training courses with which you can put these and many other skills up to date. The normal price of the online training library is over one hundred euros per month, but you can access it for the YTK Association’s annual fee of 18 euros, along with many other valuable benefits. Check out all the membership benefits ranging from advisory services with employment relationships to discounts on hotel accommodation and join as a member, if you haven’t done so already!