Last Spring despair overtook at times the summer job market – have the fears come true?

17.09.2024

The results of Suomen Ekonomit’s -Business Schools Graduates Finland- summer job survey reveal what the summer job situation was like for business students in the summer of 2024.

Business students, or kylterit in Finnish, have traditionally found summer employment quite easily. In the summer of 2023, as many as 91 percent of them had some form of summer job.

However, last spring, the summer job market took a clear turn for the worse. In May, we reported that business students felt that obtaining a summer job in 2024 was much more difficult than usual. 1 300 students responded to Ekonomit’s survey on the matter in Spring: 80% of them stated that securing a summer job was tougher than in 2023.

So, how did the summer actually go? Fresh results from the business students’ summer job survey show that the situation was indeed worse than previous summers.

The number of unsuccessful applicants more than doubled

This past summer was particularly poor when it came to finding a job: the number of unsuccessful job seekers more than doubled. Ten percent of kylterit applied for jobs but were unable to find employment. Last year, that figure was just four percent.

Fifty-three percent of business students managed to secure full-time summer jobs. The previous summer, this number was 65 percent.

In total, 83 percent of business students landed some kind of summer job. This is a noticeable drop compared to last year’s 91 percent.

The biggest challenges kylterit faced during their job search were standing out from the crowd and securing an interview.

Making the most of the summer

For students, summer jobs are an important way to gain work experience and earn money to supplement their income during the academic year. A poor summer job situation is disappointing for many reasons and can be stressful.

Lotta Pennala, special advisor in education policy, hopes that despite the challenging financial situation, students were able to make the most of the summer or focus on resting.

“Many universities offer a few summer courses, so students can use the time to advance their studies. On the other hand, studying is often pretty intense, so it’s not a bad idea to take it a bit easier during the summer, if possible,” says Pennala.

Sources:

Business Students’ Summer Jobs Survey 2023: 1,222 respondents
Business Students’ Summer Jobs Survey 2024: 1,464 respondents

Last updated 7.10.2024

University students struggling – financial support cuts and summer job availability seemingly at a record low

20.05.2024

The financial situation of students raised concerns and sparked discussions at the Suomen Ekonomit’s union conference on Saturday, May 18th, in Hämeenlinna. The chair of Suomen Ekonomit, Jukka-Pekka Kokkonen, urges employers to reconsider whether it would be possible to hire a summer worker for the upcoming summer.

Of the 1,300 business students who responded to our survey, well over half reported that changes to housing benefits worsened their financial situation. A quarter said their financial situation would significantly deteriorate.

A quarter of the students declared understanding the how and why of the cuts, but that the timing is particularly challenging for their livelihood.

Here are some of students’ comments:

“The cuts themselves wouldn’t be so bad, but combined with the difficult summer job situation, my financial situation is worrying, as I won’t accumulate savings over the summer.”

“I think cuts to student benefits are a good thing. But when considering what other budget lines aren’t getting cut simultaneously, the cuts seem unfair and unreasonable.”

Employers should reconsider hiring summer workers

This year’ summer job situation has been poor for business students. A staggering 80% of students reported that getting a summer job has been more difficult than last year.

Business students have traditionally been well-employed during the summer. Last summer, 91% of respondents to the Business & Economics students – Kylteri – summer job survey found employment. Only 4% had unsuccessfully applied for summer jobs. The Kylteri summer job survey is conducted every fall, and in 2023, it had 1,222 business student respondents.

Now, it looks like more and more students will have to get by without summer job income.

“Weak financial support often also challenges mental health, and this already affects the entire society. We can’t afford to lose these young people. Last week there were positive economic growth signals, and that’s why I appeal to entrepreneurs: consider once more if hiring a summer worker is possible. For many students, summer earnings are a crucial part of their financial support during studies and allow for more effective studying. This way, students can graduate on time and young professionals can enter the workforce,” says Jukka-Pekka Kokkonen, chair of Suomen Ekonomit.

Here are some of students’ comments on their summer job search this spring:

“I sent close to 50 job applications to a wide range of places (from cleaner to store cashier), and I wasn’t selected for any. It’s frustrating that the poor financial situation of a student is entirely blamed on the individual.”

“I applied for almost a hundred summer jobs, and only then did I get one. Each summer job had hundreds of applicants, and I eventually got a job that wasn’t even publicly advertised.”

“The summer job search has been much harder. I have two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees in my field, even though I’m 23 years old. Yet, I didn’t get into any job in my field, despite making about 40 applications.”

More information:

Pajoslahti Anton
Career Coach
p. +358504381399
Erämaja Elias
Chief Economist
p. +358407471854
Last updated 30.5.2024

What should you pay a summer employee? Read our new pay recommendations and what students earned last summer

16.12.2020

Our recommendations on the summer job pay of business students have once again been published. They also include a recommendation on the starting salary of recent graduates as well as thesis pay or remuneration.

Despite the summer job situation being worse than before during the past summer, the average monthly earnings of business school students increased from last year. However, annual income dropped at the same time.  

The earnings of female and male students matched on an annual level: the median annual income for both was €10,000. In 2019, the figure stood at €11,000.  

The median annual income for both was €10,000. In 2019, the figure stood at €11,000.  

As regards the comparison of salaries paid to men and women, there was an interesting swing: In 2019, female students earned more from their summer jobs on average than their male counterparts. The median salaries for men and women stood at €2,100 and €2,149, respectively. This year, men had a clear lead over women. The median salary for men was €2,200, while the women’s median stood at €2,100.  

The factor that can help explain the substantially wider gap is that the majority of the women who participated in the students’ summer job survey worked in customer service and sales tasks, which do not pay very well.  

These factors increased summer earnings  

Summer workers in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area earned significantly more on average than students who worked anywhere else in Finland. In the Metropolitan Area, the median pay was €2,205 while elsewhere in Finland it was €2,060.  

The number of credits the students had accumulated increased the pay level. The median salary was €2,046 for those who had fewer than 120 credits and €2,359 for those who had more than 220 credits.  

The amount of pay was also affected by whether or not the summer job was in the student’s own field of study. For business students, most of whom worked in their own fields, the median pay was €2,200. If the summer job did not match the student’s field at all, the median pay stood at €1,950. The difference increased significantly from the previous year.  

Pay recommendations for 2021 

The annual recommendations on students’ summer job pay are issued by the Finnish Business School Graduates’ working life committee. The new recommendations are listed in the table below. The recommendations are based on the business students’ summer job survey and the forecasts released by Akava Works.  

Visit our pay recommendations page for the recommendations on thesis pay or remuneration and the starting salary of recent business school graduates.

Text: Ida Levänen

Last updated