Auli Hänninen to start as Managing Director at YTK

Auli Hänninen, Executive Director at the Finnish Family Firms Association, will take over as Managing Director at YTK, the General Unemployment Fund, as of 1 December 2021. Hänninen is returning to the position, as she also worked as the Managing Director in 2008–2017.

Auli Hänninen, Executive Director at the Finnish Family Firms Association, will take over as Managing Director at YTK, the General Unemployment Fund, as of 1 December 2021. Hänninen is returning to the position, as she also worked as the Managing Director in 2008–2017.

With more than half a million members, YTK is by far Finland’s largest unemployment fund. Already one in four employees is a member of YTK, and YTK handles approximately one third of all earnings-related benefits paid in Finland. The growth of the fund, which has been going on for 30 years, is an exceptional phenomenon even among labour market operators.

Mikko-Pekka Hanski, Chairman of the Board of YTK, is pleased with the in-depth experience of the new Managing Director. “The recruitment for the new managing director sparked a lot of interest and the Board is grateful and inspired by all the discussions and encounters. Internally, YTK is constantly evolving, key systems in the field need to be reformed and the whole industry will change in the coming years. In the midst of constant change, we wanted the managing director to have an in-depth knowledge of the operation of unemployment funds and to have an idea of what working life is all about.”

Hanski notes that the COVID-19 pandemic really tested the system and revealed how much there is still room for improvement. “There are many opinions on how earnings-related security should be organized. As the most significant of our unemployment funds, YTK’s mission is to take the entire sector towards a working life of the future. We feel that Auli Hänninen’s significant expertise is an opportunity to do just that.”

“I was impressed with how YTK’s personnel managed to cope with the incredibly high number of daily-allowance applications last year. The pandemic has justly raised the development of earnings-related security even more notably in the political debate. However, the voice of the implementing bodies has not been sufficiently heard in this debate. I want to be actively involved in the discussions on the topic and influence the development of the earnings-related security system,” Hänninen adds.

“I am very happy and satisfied with my time at the Finnish Family Firms Association. The last four years have been very significant. The work also has an important link to YTK’s mission, as it is a question of employment,” says Hänninen.

Hänninen will work as the Executive Director at the Finnish Family Firms Association until the end of November, and will take over as Managing Director at YTK as of 1 December 2021.