Uncertainty with the coronavirus pandemic prolongs and worsens the situation of entrepreneurs, many of them apply for subsidies

According to the survey of the Finnish Entrepreneurs' Unemployment Insurance Fund (SYT), four out of ten members of the fund say that they already submitted or intend to apply for labor market subsidy. According to Kela's statistics, about 25 000 entrepreneurs have already applied for labor market subsidy from Kela.

In April, the Finnish Entrepreneurs' Unemployment Insurance Fund (SYT) carried out a survey on the coronavirus pandemic among its members. The SYT fund includes about 30 000 entrepreneurs from all business industries and nearly 4 000 of them responded to the survey.

• 39 % of participants who responded to the survey stated that they applied for temporary labor market subsidy from Kela. However, many entrepreneurs have expressed dissatisfaction with the level of support, which is 724 € / month. Some members of the fund criticize that the amount of earnings-related unemployment benefits should have been greater. It should be noted that earnings-related daily allowance (ansiopäiväraha) is paid only to those members of the fund who have ceased operations.
• Almost three out of four participants have encountered significant problems in their business activities during the coronavirus crisis. The problems are appeared in almost all industries and companies of all sizes. The current crisis has hit sole proprietors in Finland, the amount of which according to statistics is about 182 000. Most of the SYT fund members are sole proprietors.
• One third (32%) of the respondents could not assess the future prospects of their business to this year. More than half (56%) of the respondents said that their company needed public support to survive the crisis.
• 4% expected to close down their business within the next year and 3% said they would close down within the next two months. The SYT Fund expects the application processing to increase in the late summer and has already recruited new staff to ensure prompt application processing.

According to fund director Merja Jokinen, the uncertainty with corona pandemic prolongs and worsens the situation of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship involves uncertainty and risks, but now the scale is unpredictable.

- We expect the number of daily allowance applications to increase in the coming months if the current crisis continues. We paid earnings-related daily allowance last month to 824 members and in March to 782 members. Unemployment among entrepreneurs often drops behind the rest, because closing down a business always takes time, Merja Jokinen says.

As opposed to SYT fund terms, entrepreneurs can temporarily receive labor market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki) paid by Kela due to the sudden and unexpected decline in demand caused by the coronavirus epidemic without closing the business down. The solution applies to all entrepreneurs, regardless of the form of business.

- TE offices, which determine the employment policy conditions for receiving a daily allowance, are partially congested. However, we see the danger of an escalation and prolongation of the crisis without drastic action. The key would be that viable companies remain afloat, avoid a long period of unemployment and return to normal work as soon as possible, Merja Jokinen hopes.

The full information and the source text can be found at Suomen Yrittäjät website.