Study title

Finnish Working Life Barometer 2021

Dataset ID Number

FSD3727

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3727

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Statistics Finland. Interview and Survey Services
• Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

Abstract

The annual survey studied employee opinion on the quality of working life in Finland. Main themes included organisation of work, development opportunities and flexibility, learning and training at work, wages, workplace bullying, capacity to work, and changes in working life. Questions in the barometer have mainly remained the same each year. The questionnaire, target population and collection method of the survey were changed for the 2021 collection round.

First, the respondents were asked about the number of people employed at their workplace, changes in the number of staff, their primary place of work, and their membership of trade unions and unemployment funds. Satisfaction in the working environment was charted with questions about openness, encouragement, trust and equality in the workplace, and opportunities for employees to develop and apply new ideas. Further questions covered measures taken to improve employees' capacity to work and safety of work environment. The respondents were asked whether their place of work supported its employees in learning and trying new things, and whether they had taken part in job-related training in the last 12 months and received a salary during that time. Participation in job-related training through different methods (e.g. online, with a mentor, self-study) and opportunities to develop skills during work hours were also surveyed.

The next set of questions focused on flexible working time arrangements at the workplace, pay and bonus systems, satisfaction with the pay level, and digital tools as part of work. Autonomy at work was surveyed by asking about influence over own work tasks and working pace, over the distribution of work in the workplace, and about working to a tight schedule. Remote work was investigated with questions on whether the respondents had worked remotely during the past 12 months, whether they had a quiet place where they could work remotely, whether remote work was a productive way for them to work, and whether they could focus better while working remotely than when working at the office. The use of digital tools, virtual workspaces, and social media services as part of work tasks was also charted. Additionally, discrimination at work based on factors such as ethnic group, age, gender, sexual orientation, and health status was explored. Incidents of bullying, sexual harassment and violence at work were surveyed.

One set of questions investigated the employees' perceived workload, capacity to work, estimates of own mental and physical capacity to work, and sickness absences. Additionally, the respondents' experiences of stress, mental exhaustion, inability to focus, togetherness and excitement related to work were surveyed. The respondents were asked how likely they thought it was that they would be temporarily laid off or made redundant. Finally, views were probed on the respondents' likelihood of getting an equal job if they became unemployed and what they would do if they became unemployed (e.g. apply for a new job in the same field, apply for a new job in a different field, become self-employed, get a job abroad).

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's year of birth, age, gender, status in employment, employer type, industry of employment, type of contract, and weekly working hours.

Keywords

career development; employees; employment; employment opportunities; expectation; flexible working time; hours of work; job satisfaction; occupational life; telework; wages; working conditions; workloads; workplace bullying

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Equality, inequality and social exclusion (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Employment (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Labour relations/conflict (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Occupational health (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Working Life Barometers

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Statistics Finland

Time Period Covered

2021

Collection Dates

2021-08-09 – 2021-10-14

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Employees aged 18-64 whose regular working hours are at least 10 hours

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified

The Finnish Working Life Barometer was carried out in connection with Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey. The sample was selected from the respondents of the Labour Force Survey. The Labour Force Survey sample was selected by stratified random sampling from Statistics Finland's population database. The Labour Force Survey is a panel survey in which the same person is interviewed a total of five times over a period of 15 months. The sample for one survey month consists of five rotation groups that have entered the survey at different times.

From the most recent sample of the Labour Force survey, employees aged 18-64 who had responded that they were employed for at least 10 hours a week were selected for the Finnish Working Life Barometer. At the beginning of 2021, data collection for the Labour Force Survey and the Finnish Working Life Barometer were combined. A total of 1,899 responses were received. Of the respondents, 44% participated in a telephone interview and 56% completed the online questionnaire.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

77.6

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The questionnaire, target population and collection method of the Finnish Working Life Barometer were changed in 2021, which causes a time series break. The data for 2021 are thus not directly comparable with the barometers from previous years. The structure and content of the questionnaire were substantially revised. The questionnaire form was produced in Finnish, Swedish and English. The target population was also expanded by no longer limiting it to only Finnish speakers. From 2021 onwards the data for the barometer will be collected as a mixed-methods survey, allowing respondents to complete the survey either as a web-based questionnaire or as a telephone interview.

The response rate was lower than average for those with a lower education level, lower socio-economic status, lower income level, younger age groups, and those whose mother tongue was not a Nordic language.

The data delivered to FSD do not include background information collected from registers: level of education and region/area of residence.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [tb_paino] which weights the data to correspond to target population distributions of gender, 10-year age groups, NUTS2 major regions, socioeconomic status, and wage decile from the Incomes Register to match the target population estimated based on the Labour Force Survey sample. A similar weighting coefficient has not been used for data from previous collection rounds, as previous surveys only included Finnish-speaking respondents and up-to-date wage data from the Incomes Register is only available from 2021 onwards.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Statistics Finland & Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: Finnish Working Life Barometer 2021 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-04-11). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3727

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Lyly-Yrjänäinen, Maija (2022). Työolobarometri 2021. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja 2022:46. Helsinki: Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-327-692-5

Related Publications

Lyly-Yrjänäinen, Maija (2022). Työolobarometri 2021. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja 2022:46. Helsinki: Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-327-692-5