Connecting public procurement and employment, pilot projects - Case City of Vantaa

BACKGROUND

Procurer

City of Vantaa

Object of procurement

Pilot procurements include 24-hour housing service for elderly people

Value of procurement

€ 160,000

Objective of procurement

The main objective of the project is to increase the employment opportunities for individuals far from the labour market, such as migrants, long-term unemployed, NEETs, persons over 50 years of age and persons with disabilities. In particular, the category of NEET is increasing dramatically in Finland, accounting for 20% of the total young population. Long-term unemployment is growing especially quickly in big cities such as Helsinki and Vantaa and in age groups below 40 years; moreover, asylum seekers and immigrants face difficulties in accessing the labour market.

Parties and operators participating in procurement

• Contracting authorites: Municipalities of Helsinki and Vantaa 

• Transnational learning partner: The National Agency for Public Procurement in Sweden

• Beneficiaries: Persons far from the labour market who were employed or given apprenticeships through the pilot procurements

 

Procurement – background

In the framework of the European Social Fund (ESF), Finland and Sweden started a transnational project as a joint initiative aimed at linking public procurement and employment of disadvantaged people. The project, called SIEPP (Social Innovation and Employment through Public Procurement), started in 2017 and is still ongoing. SIEPP aims to tackle the rising unemployment figures in Sweden and Finland, and is a follow-up of a successful previous project that ran from 2014 to 2017.  

Connecting public procurement and employment is a crucial issue, and by doing this it is possible to create pathways to the open labour market for individuals who have difficulties accessing it by themselves. The project makes it possible for partners with different levels of experience to exchange expertise and to learn from each other. Moreover, the project fosters international exchange of good practices between EU countries to ensure a common approach.

Read the full case description from “Making socially responsible public procurement work - 71 good practice cases” on pages 180-183 published by the European Commission.