Structure of the personnel and its development perspectives

The University employs both academic (teaching and research) and non-aca-demic staff. The teaching and research staff account for 48.5 per cent of the entire staff (31 December 2005).

A major part of the personnel receive their salary from the University’s fi nances for operational expenditure, i.e. the national budget. At the end of 2005, external funding covered 34.8 per cent of person years performed at the University.

It is to be expected that the total number of personnel at the University of Helsinki will not grow in the next few years. On the other hand, a great number of permanently employed staff will retire in the next decade.

Coupled with the decreasing number of personnel, the University is

faced with increasing demands for effi ciency and expectations to produce more results of a higher standard. The government is also putting pressure on the University to reduce the number of its non-academic staff.

All these factors must be taken into account when planning the future structure, location and duties of the University’s personnel.

Measures to be taken

The number of academic staff hired on fi nances for operational expenditure will be increased in proportion to the number of non-academic staff, while paying special attention to the appropriate management of administration and support services.

All faculties, departments and other units will draft a human re-sources policy covering several years. The implementation of these policies will be monitored annually.

The unit-specifi c human resources policies will give special consid-eration to the effects of the simultaneous retirement of the baby boomer generation. The allocation of vacant posts and opportuni-ties to cut down the number of posts will be carefully surveyed.

Posts that have not been fi lled in years will be abolished.

A plan for the arrangement of posts and establishment of new posts will be drawn up in order to promote the career advance-ment of young researchers and improve the employadvance-ment circum-stances of fi xed-term research personnel.

The unit-specifi c human resources policies will include objectives and means for the internationalisation of the unit.

The human resources policies will prepare for reforms that aim to reduce the need for special expertise in fi nancial and human resources management at the departmental level and transfer the management of such matters to professionals in larger units.

2.3. Recruitment

As stated in the University of Helsinki Administrative Regulations, decisions on recruitment are made in the units. Announcements for vacancies are pub-lished in a centralised manner by the Administration Offi ce in order to ensure the correct application of regulations and a consistent image of the University as an employer.

Special regulations are applied in the fi lling of professorships. According to these regulations, assessors must always be used in the appointment proc-ess. If the faculties so wish, assessors’ statements may also be required in the fi lling of other teaching and research posts.

The State Civil Servants Act provides for the fi lling of non-academic posts. There may also be special qualifi cation requirements for a given post.

In the case of fi xed-term positions, employees are often hired without inviting applications and thus without any comparisons between applicants.

Consequently, a person may be employed by the University on several con-secutive fi xed-term contracts without having to compete for the position with other applicants.

As recruitments have a vital effect on the standard of future personnel and consequently, the University’s ability to produce results of a high stand-ard, each appointment must be made after careful consideration. It is also of crucial importance to launch a recruitment policy and prepare to compete for the best experts.

Measures to be taken

Recruitment decisions will be made in accordance with the unit’s human resources policy.

The correct demands level must be determined before inviting ap-plications for a position.

As a rule, appointments lasting at least a year will be made on the basis of an application procedure; inviting applications for ap-pointments lasting less than a year is also recommended. Projects requiring special expertise may make exceptions to this rule.

The University will approve practices and procedures for the relo-cation of personnel that are part of its responsibilities as an em-ployer.

Opportunities for international recruitment in inviting applica-tions for teaching and research posts will be improved. Invitaapplica-tions for applications will be translated into English and distributed in an appropriate manner internationally, unless there are special reasons for not advertising a post internationally.

The University must accept the fact that international applicants do not fulfi ll the requirement in the national languages of Finland and thus will take this into account when determining language requirements for teaching and research posts to be advertised in-ternationally.

When recruiting personnel for customer service, special attention will be paid to the fact that the University of Helsinki is a bilingual university.

When fi xed-term appointment are made, the grounds for the fi xed-term contract must be noted down in writing. In the case of project personnel, the aim will be that the employment will last throughout the project. Unnecessary terminations of employment must be avoided.

When recruiting postgraduate students, they must be made aware of career opportunities at the University and in their fi eld in gen-eral.

When fi lling postdoctoral positions, consideration will be given to international experience and teaching qualifi cations.