How is Finland doing?
Latest study: 70% experience a sense of community at work
Employees’ experiences of a sense of community are polarised, reports the How is Finland doing? study. Approximately 70 per cent of employees experience a sense of community at work. According to the study, the sense of community weakened in particular amongst one-third of the respondents who had already reported a comparatively weak sense of community to begin with.
Objectives
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic that hit Finland in the spring of 2020, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health collected data on the well-being at work of Finnish employees in a research project Resilient employees in changing work life.
After the outbreak, the follow-up of these respondents' well-being at work was continued in the How is Finland doing? study. In the latter stages of the study, new respondents have been invited to take the survey, which has been carried out every six months.
The project provides unique information on the development of well-being at work from the time before the COVID-19 to the modern day. The aim is to provide solutions and information to support decision-making both in workplaces and in society.
Authors of the study
The study is carried out by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and it is currently part of Finland's Sustainable Growth Programme.
The Principal Investigator of the study is Research Professor Jari Hakanen. The study group also includes Janne Kaltiainen (Senior Researcher), Sampo Suutala (Researcher) and Maria Hirvonen (Statistics Specialist). Previously, Anniina Virtanen and Jaana-Piia Mäkiniemi were also part of the study as researchers.
Taloustutkimus Oy carries out the collection of survey data on behalf of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Data and methods
The study charts the experiences of the Finnish population about:
- well-being at work and the lack thereof in a broad sense (e.g. work engagement, job burnout, job satisfaction, boredom, workaholism, working while sick),
- working conditions and work-related attitudes (e.g. fairness, insecurity, cohesion),
- other aspects of well-being (health, work ability, depression, life satisfaction),
- different forms of work: effects of remote, hybrid and in-office work to well-being and
- individual resources.
The study will also examine the extent to which the above experiences and changes in them may differ between different groups of the population and employees.
