Business group wants weekday holidays cut to fund defence

By admin On Jun 24, 2025

CEO of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises Mikael Pentikäinen in Helsinki. The Federation wants to fund defence spending by reducing weekday public holidays. Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva

The Federation of Finnish Enterprises has proposed moving two national holidays to weekends as a way to increase working hours and help finance rising defence costs.

The proposal suggests shifting Epiphany and Ascension Day, both currently observed on weekdays, to weekend dates. This, the group claims, would increase Finland’s annual GDP by 0.2 percent per holiday and add up to €1.1 billion per year.

Mikael Pentikäinen, CEO of the Federation, introduced the plan at the Suomi Areena forum in Pori on Tuesday. “To overcome the major challenges ahead, related both to strengthening defence and caring for an ageing population, we need to work more,” he said.

According to the Federation’s estimates, two additional workdays would boost tax revenue by €500 million and reduce public spending by €100 million through lower holiday-related costs. This would result in an estimated 0.6 percent rise in annual working hours for employees.

Pentikäinen said the reform could be introduced in the next parliamentary term, citing a lack of time and capacity in the current government to enact new labour initiatives.

He referred to Denmark as a precedent, where the government eliminated a public holiday to finance increasing defence expenditure.

The plan immediately drew criticism from the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.

Jarkko Eloranta, president of SAK, dismissed the idea as “old-fashioned.” He said the proposal misjudges modern labour challenges. “We do not support extending working hours by eliminating weekday holidays,” he said.

Eloranta argued the focus should be on improving productivity rather than lengthening hours. He noted ongoing debates in Sweden aimed at shortening working time. “It’s a very one-dimensional approach to simply add two workdays while leaving working hours otherwise unchanged,” he said.

He also linked the proposal to other recent policies affecting workers, such as cuts to social benefits and unemployment allowances. “This comes from the same box,” Eloranta said, describing the combined effect as unbalanced, especially in light of tax benefits granted to businesses.

The placement of Epiphany and Ascension Day on the calendar has been debated in Finland for decades. Both holidays were moved to Saturdays in the 1970s but were reinstated as weekday holidays in 1992.

In 2014, the Church Council and labour market groups discussed moving them again, with support from the Confederation of Finnish Industries, but no consensus emerged. A similar government plan in 2015 under then prime minister Juha Sipilä also failed.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi