Column: When your work life is challenged, community must show its worth

Few people experience a straight career path, free of bumps, bends, hills and valleys. Various events and life circumstances affect us – and our professional lives.

Considering this, it is peculiar that not having a 'normal' job or experiencing a period without one is somewhat taboo.

At Finansforbundet, we want to change this.

Mistrust and suspicion are the last things you need when you go through periods of unemployment and need to gear up for a new chapter in your professional life. And we all stand to benefit if we take an inclusive approach to different forms of belonging to the workplace and the labour market.

The bumps encountered in working life depend on the specific situation. Perhaps you are unemployed because you just finished your studies and are starting the first chapter of your career. Maybe you are in a new situation because your working capacity has changed. Or perhaps your needs have simply changed because you have come closer to your career end. Whatever the scenario, you need to be met with trust, respect and community support.  

The entire employment system is currently under debate. The government wants to rethink the system, abolish the job centres and save DKK 3 billion.

There are many good reasons for rethinking a system which, over the years, has become complicated, rule-intensive and controlling.

We believe that, when rethinking the employment system, the main objective should be to create a simple system that is built on trust, while making sure to future-proof it to function in times of high employment and low unemployment, like the present, and gearing it to times of change.

Unemployment is generally low in the financial area. Still, some people find it challenging to maintain their belonging to the labour market. This especially happens for people over the age of 60, those with outdated education or those whose working capacity is reduced for various reasons. 

When someone’s professional life twists and turns, we, as a trade union, have a special obligation, along with our unemployment insurance fund, to lend our trust, respect and community support. At the same time, we must hold the employers to the fact that, despite fluctuations in the labour market, it has huge value when they recruit a diverse workforce, so that we can create an even more inclusive financial labour market with lasting effect.

It truly makes a difference for the individual, for corporations and for society.