Article categories: Archive News
City of Vaasa halts layoffs planned for 2021
Published: 26.3.2021
The financial statements of the City of Vaasa for 2020 are being completed and the result is much more positive than expected. The city’s result for the financial period is EUR 33 million, which is EUR 19 million better than budgeted. The year, which was marked by austerity measures and co-operation procedures, was very challenging, but the result for the financial period ultimately shows a surplus.
The result is positive, exceeding the obligation to cover the deficit, which means that the staff layoffs planned for 2021 will be cancelled. At its meeting on 21 September 2020, the Vaasa City Board decided to implement layoffs concerning the city’s staff for the years 2020-2021 to cover the deficits accumulated by the City of Vaasa. When deciding on the layoffs, the result for the financial period 2020 was estimated at EUR 6 million, which would not have been enough to cover the deficit of EUR 25.9 million.
The decision to layoff all staff was made in the light of the situation and the information available to decision-makers in 2020. Still at the end of 2020, the result was estimated to be around EUR 14 million. The basis for the layoffs, i.e., the obligation to cover the deficit, was valid when the layoffs were decided until 18 March 2021.
– The situation surrounding the coronavirus made it difficult to make forecasts about the economy. No one could have believed in the summer that we would end up with such a good result. It was not until the autumn that we began to believe that we could actually avoid a crisis and that we would now be in a position to cover all our deficits. The biggest reasons for this are due to the coronavirus support received from the state, better-than-expected tax revenues and lower-than-expected expenditures in our own profit areas, says CFO Miia Äkkinen from the City of Vaasa.
Finances in good shape despite the coronavirus
As the employer is obliged to revoke the layoffs after the grounds for layoffs expired on 18 March 2021, the City of Vaasa will halt or cancel all remaining planned and unimplemented layoffs as of 19 March 2021.
– We are very pleased with the city’s positive result and the fact that we can cancel the layoffs planned for this year. A big thank you goes to all the employees, who each played a part in their own way, says HR Director Tuulikki Kruhse-Poutanen.
Vaasa Mayor Tomas Häyry is also pleased with the positive result.
– Last year was challenging due to the uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, layoffs and other austerity measures. Together, we managed to get the city’s finances in shape in the middle of an otherwise challenging time, so a warm thank you goes to every employee. Together we can be happy about a better financial situation, and also with regard to the coronavirus, there is light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the vaccinations, says Mayor Tomas Häyry.
The City Board will discuss the cancellation of layoffs at its meeting on 22 March, 2021 and the financial statements at its meeting on 31 March, 2021.
The City of Vaasa is arranging a press conference (Teams) for the media regarding the 2020 financial statements on Thursday, 25 March, 2021 at 11:00. An invitation to the event will be sent on Friday, 19 March, 2021.
More information:
Mayor Tomas Häyry, tel. +358 40 540 5412, tomas.hayry@vaasa.fi
Human Resources Director Tuulikki Kruhse-Poutanen, tel. +358 40 527 3766, tuulikki.kruhse-pout@vaasa.fi
CFO Miia Äkkinen, tel. +358 40 628 1727, miia.akkinen@vaasa.fi