The City of Helsinki is Finland’s largest employer, with over 38,000 employees working in different positions across the city’s divisions and public enterprises.
Working for the City of Helsinki
Helsinki has a positive impact
Your work for the City of Helsinki will be meaningful and make a difference. You’ll be able to work closely with the city’s residents to improve municipal services.
Photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Partners
Helsinki is one-of-a-kind
Every city employee has a part to play in keeping Helsinki’s unique identity and vitality alive. Our team works together to ensure that residents and visitors alike enjoy their time in the city.
Photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Partners
Helsinki is responsible
The City of Helsinki is committed to promoting diversity, equality and non-discrimination in its operations. Our supervisors are fair-minded and put people first.
Photo: Marek Sabogal / Helsinki Partners
Helsinki has a great work-life balance
Helsinki has one of the best work-life balance rankings in the world. As an employer, the City of Helsinki knows that life is about more than just work; everyone should have the opportunity to lead a full life.
Photo: Aleksi Poutanen / Helsinki Partners
Helsinki supports your professional development
The City of Helsinki is a stable and trustworthy employer. Our comprehensive operations provide our employees with a wide range of opportunities to develop and advance in their careers.
Photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Partners
Award-winning employer for the promotion of fitness and equality
The City of Helsinki was named Finland’s Most Active Workplace at the annual nationwide sports award ceremony, Urheilugaala, in 2021. This was the result of Helsinki’s resolute work to improve employee fitness with an in-house service that promotes exercise and physical activity.
The City of Helsinki was also recognised with a Responsible Employer Act award for its non-discrimination efforts (Työelämän Vastuullisuusteko) in late 2020. The expert jury praised Helsinki’s long-term work to promote diversity and equality.
How the City of Helsinki is organised
The City of Helsinki is made up of a total of nine divisions and public enterprises. Each of these nine has its own important tasks. The names of these divisions and enterprises are listed below, followed by their Finnish acronyms in parenthesis. City employees tend to use these acronyms regularly in their daily work, so it will be good for you to learn them. Click on the headers to learn more about each division or enterprise, as well as the professions and responsibilities of its employees.
Helsinki’s Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division is the city’s largest division. It is tasked with ensuring the wellbeing and safety of all of Helsinki’s residents. The division offers family and social services, healthcare and substance abuse treatment, as well as hospital, rehabilitation and care services, in addition to rescue services. Representatives of over 300 professions work in Sotepe, including practical nurses, public health nurses, emergency medical technicians, social counsellors, social workers, therapists, doctors, dentists, fire inspectors, safety instructors, rescue services professionals and civil defence experts.
Helsinki’s new Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division began operations on 1 January 2023. Before this, the city’s Social Services and Health Care Division (Sote) and Rescue Services (Pela) organised their operations separately.
The City of Helsinki’s Education Division is city’s second-largest division. It is responsible for the entire pre-adult learning path of Helsinki residents, from early childhood education in daycares to pre-primary, primary and secondary education in schools, and upper secondary education and vocational education and training in various learning institutions. It also organises a wide range of adult education opportunities.
The division is responsible for organising and developing the city’s pedagogical operations, in addition to its educational methods, tools and digital platforms. It provides education and services in over 700 service locations throughout the city. Examples of some of the professions represented at Kasko include classroom and subject teachers, training specialists, guidance counsellors, special education instructors, psychologists and early childhood education staff, in addition to administrative specialists and customer service advisors.
Some 1,700 employees work for the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division, both in the areas of planning, building and maintaining Helsinki’s urban environment and offering associated services. The division is divided into four service entities: Land use and city support, Buildings and public areas, Services and permits, and Administrative and support services.
Kymp employees represent over 250 different professions, with different kinds of engineers and architects accounting for the majority. In addition, there are many people who do work in various inspection, planning, control and customer service roles. The division’s work strives to improve Helsinki resident wellbeing and make everyday life in the capital city more pleasant and smoothly-functioning. We are also doing our part to help Helsinki achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2030. Kymp’s operations are now located at a state-of-the-art building in the easily accessible Helsinki district of Kalasatama.
Helsinki’s Culture and Leisure Division provides the city’s residents and visitors alike with year-round opportunities to enjoy art, culture and events in the city, as well as various courses and hobbies. The division is also responsible for running Helsinki’s sports and exercise facilities and services, along with the premises for various leisure-time and community activities.
The division is made up of four service entities: Libraries, Culture, Sports and Youth Services. Professions represented in Kuva include librarians, PE instructors, youth counsellors, musicians, and experts in the fields of art, culture and museum services.
Helsinki City Construction Services, better known as Stara, is a public enterprise specialising in the construction, maintenance and logistics services required by the city. Stara has years of experience in building and caring for Helsinki’s streets and parks. It is also responsible for the construction, renovation and maintenance of many city-owned properties, including schools, daycare centres and municipal service locations. Stara is proud to keep the City of Helsinki’s green areas, urban forests and coastal waters and shorelines clean and healthy.
Stara employs representatives of some 150 professions, ranging from district gardeners, groundskeepers and carpenters doing specialist work in the field to construction managers, engineers and designers doing planning, project and management tasks.
Service Centre Helsinki, better known as Palke, is a public enterprise and partner to the City of Helsinki’s divisions and residents. It looks after the daily welfare of Helsinki inhabitants by developing and providing food, care, and telephone services. Palke provides meal services to daycare centres, schools, and care facilities such as senior centres. Cooks, kitchen workers, customer service advisors, nurses, practical nurses, technical professionals and many other types of employees work at Palke’s over 600 service locations.
Occupational Health Helsinki is responsible for providing healthcare services to the City of Helsinki and its associated enterprises. Doctors, nurses, and psychologists that specialise in occupational health and safety work for the service, joining with physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists to create interdisciplinary teams. In partnership with our clients, these teams of health professionals work to foster wellbeing at Helsinki’s workplaces.
Helsinki’s Financial Management Services, better known as Talpa, is a public enterprise producing financial services such as accounting, purchase invoices, invoicing, payments and salary calculations for members of the Helsinki City Group. Customers include the City of Helsinki divisions, public enterprises and limited companies, as well as city management, employees and city residents that use municipal services. Talpa employees include financial and payroll specialists, system managers, application experts, accountants and customer service advisors.
The Helsinki City Executive Office operates under the City Board, serving as the general planning, preparation and implementation office for the City Council, City Board, and Mayor and Deputy Mayors. Kanslia activities are shared among six departments: Economic Development, Administration, Human Resources, Strategy, Economy and Planning, and Communications. Employees are highly qualified specialists in their field, working as experts, supervisors, project managers and planners.
City of Helsinki Administration
The City of Helsinki is led by an elected City Council. A Mayor and four Deputy Mayors are appointed by the City Council for each four-year council term. A City Board, Central Administration and four Divisions round out the city’s administration, along with various committees and subcommittees.
Shared operational methods at the City of Helsinki
We adhere to the following ethical principles
As a City of Helsinki employee, you will be expected to commit to the city’s ethical principles. Ethical principles sit at the heart of all responsible operations, healthy workplaces and general wellbeing at work. They are the principles that bind us together and steer us towards fairness and truth.
- The underlying premise of every facet of our work is to be of service.
- We seek at all times to do things just a little bit better.
- We emphasize treating people honestly, justly and equally.
- We have zero tolerance for racism, discrimination, inappropriate treatment and sexual harassment.
- We comply with all rules and regulations associated with the city.
- Data systems are all duly protected.
- All forms of corruption and impropriety are prohibited.
- We provide prompt assistance and reach out to support the most vulnerable.
- We make sustainable development a priority and work to mitigate climate change.
- Together, we develop and uphold an ethical operational culture.
We treat each other professionally and respectfully
The City of Helsinki wants to be workplace where everyone feels comfortable and enjoys their work. We follow a zero-tolerance policy for any form of inappropriate conduct, bullying or harassment. We make it a priority to treat our customers and all the members of our work community in a professional and respectful manner.
Sopuisasti Stadissa (Harmoniously in Helsinki) introduces new employees to the City of Helsinki’s operational principles. These principles are meant to foster a pleasant workplace atmosphere and day-to-day work. In addition to tips for building a good working community and daily routine, the guide contains information about where to receive assistance and support if a problem arises. The complete text is available in Finnish only, but an English-language summary is attached below.
Employee benefits at the City of Helsinki
Hobbies, fun experiences and an easier commute
As a city employee, you enjoy many benefits. Among other things, you can eat lunch at city cafeterias for a reduced price, use vouchers for discounts on public transport, enjoy reduced prices for a range of free-time activities, and holiday at no cost on a city-owned island on eastern Helsinki’s Kallalahti ridge.
Photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Partners
Helsinki now and in the future
Helsinki City Strategy 2021–2025
The Helsinki City Strategy lays down Helsinki’s guidelines for the future. The City Strategy is updated every council term. The guiding principle of the City Strategy 2021-2025 is that Helsinki is a place of growth. The 13 priorities of the strategy are listed below. Which do you feel are most important in terms of your work?
- The most equitable and effective place to learn
- Ambitious climate objectives and nature conservation
- Art and culture as enablers of a good life
- An international city of equality
- Cultivating safe neighbourhoods with distinctive identities
- A smoothly functioning and beautiful city
- Intelligent traffic solutions underpin smooth transport
- Improving the health and wellbeing of Helsinki residents
- Responsible finances as the basis for sustainable growth
- Helsinki is an attractive employer
- Data and digitalisation help run a smart city
- International workers and businesses find Helsinki appealing
- Promoting Helsinki’s interests nationally and engaging in international cooperation
A carbon-neutral Helsinki by 2030
One of the goals of the current City Strategy is for Helsinki to achieve carbon-neutrality by the year 2030. Once this goal is reached, operations in the city will no longer contribute to global warming. After this important landmark, the City of Helsinki will next set its sights on achieving net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2040.
Photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Partners
The City of Helsinki has already made significant strides in this effort. Carbon emissions in Helsinki were down by a third in 2020 when compared to 1990 levels, even though the number of residents had increased by 150,000. Calculations estimated a near 49 per cent emissions reduction per resident during this same period. It is clear, however, that Helsinki must cut larger volumes of emissions more efficiently, if it hopes to meet its goal of carbon-neutrality. A carbon-neutral Helsinki is only possible if Helsinki’s local government, businesses, organisations and residents work together.
The City of Helsinki on Social Media
The City of Helsinki social media accounts are primarily in Finnish.
The City of Helsinki Divisions also have their own social media accounts which post information primarily in Finnish.
The City of Helsinki’s services
Some City of Helsinki services such as schools, libraries and community centres have their own social media accounts. You can find them on the City of Helsinki’s main hel.fi website under the sections highlighting the service, or you can search for them on the social media channel directly using the channel’s search function.