Employment grants

Employment grants in Helsinki – grant criteria and priorities in 2026

Employment grants are awarded for activities that support the strategic objectives of the City of Helsinki, as well as the priorities of the employment services. The grants aim to improve employment opportunities for Helsinki residents, especially among those groups that find accessing the labour market the hardest.

Strategic priorities supported by employment grants

1. Employment and competence

The operations strengthen the competence and employability of Helsinki residents. The focus is primarily on:

• long-term unemployed
• young people
• immigrants

2. Well-being and inclusion

• The operations supported contribute to the well-being of residents, reduce inequality and increase opportunities for participation in society.

3. Working together and a sense of community

• The City encourages the different actors to work together to build an inclusive, equal Helsinki.

Criteria for receiving the employment grant

Employment grants are granted to activities that promote employment or the development of activities that promote employment. The diversity of Helsinki residents is emphasised when distributing the grants.

The grant can be distributed as a general grant for the organisation's annual activities.

The following aspects will be given particular emphasis:

• Number of work training days and related guidance annually. Work training must be carried out under an agreement with the City of Helsinki (Agreement on a work try-out at the workplace)
• Training, group activities and other active inclusion of the unemployed
• Targeting the operations at the City’s own focus groups in employment management
• Targeted orientation towards open labour market or training
• Results, scope, expertise and quality of activities
• Costs of the activity, such as salaries and facility expenses, in relation to the scale of the activities
• Achievement of targets from previous years

Grants can also be granted for development activities that promote employment, such as:

• Developing organisational activities for the unemployed
• Strengthening the internal competence of the organisation
• Improving communication about the operations
• Developing and increasing services to promote employment
• Opening up new channels for cooperation to promote employment

A development grant may also be awarded on the basis of a joint application by several organisations.

General conditions for awarding a grant

The following criteria complement the City's general grant guidelines and apply to all grants:

• The grant may only be used for the purpose for which it was granted
• The grant cannot be used for general administrative expenses (e.g. annual general assemblies, financial statement expenses or banking costs)
• Grants are not allocated for investments
• The applicant is required to cooperate with the Helsinki Employment Services
• The operations must be based on a financially sustainable foundation, not only on external funding.

The applicant’s operations must have continued for at least one year and be open to Helsinki residents.

Use of the grant, reporting and monitoring

• A report on the use of the grant must be submitted with the following year's grant application
• If no new application is made, the report must be submitted separately in accordance with the guidelines in the grant decision’s appendix

The grantor has the right to review:

• accounting and administration
• and, where appropriate, other activities to which the grant relates