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Picture of a woman writing on a laptop with arctic lake on the background. Competence 360 is co-funded by European Union and the Economic Development Centre (EDC).

Competence 360

The “Competence 360” project aims to solve labor market matching challenges in Kuusamo by developing knowledge-based management of competence and by identifying the competence needs of jobseekers and employers. The project’s goal is to promote employment, increase regional vitality, and enable the planning of effective training and services. The project’s results and impact support the local labor market situation and promote diversity in working life.

The project will be carried out between January 1, 2026 and April 30, 2028 in cooperation with the City of Kuusamo and KSAK Oy. Competence mapping of employers and jobseekers, workshops, and coaching are key measures. During the project, information related to competence and to labor force and competence needs will be collected, analyzed, and reported to support decision-making.

Goals and results

Structural unemployment has grown steadily in Kuusamo, and matching challenges have persisted. Jobseekers’ competence does not always lead to the labor market, and employers have difficulties identifying and articulating their competence needs. Mapping of jobseekers’ competence and of employers’ labor force and competence needs has not previously been done systematically, which makes it difficult to plan training and services that respond to these needs.

The goal of the project is to promote labor market matching and increase regional vitality by systematically identifying and analyzing jobseekers’ competence as well as employers’ labor force and competence needs.

The goals are:

  1. Promoting the availability and retention of skilled labor for employers by developing the identification and description of labor force and competence needs, as well as job crafting and onboarding.
  2. Promoting faster employment of jobseekers and the development of competence that responds to needs by developing the identification and description of jobseekers’ competence.
  3. Enabling the planning of effective training, coaching, and other services that respond to needs within the employment services ecosystem by developing knowledge-based management of competence and by creating a systematic operating model for utilizing competence data and supporting foresight.

The concrete results of the project include:

  • Identification and description of employers’ labor force and competence needs.
  • Identification and collection of jobseekers’ competence.
  • Competence-based matching of employers and jobseekers.
  • Development of a knowledge-based competence management model and its implementation in employment services.
  • Creation of new job tasks and career paths through job crafting.
  • Development of employers’ competence identification as well as recruitment and onboarding skills.
  • Development of jobseekers’ professional mobility and competence.

The long-term impacts of the project will be reflected in better labor market matching, a decrease in the number of unemployed people, shorter unemployment periods, and a rise in the employment rate. The knowledge-based competence management model enables data-driven planning of training and services, which improves the competitiveness of the regional labor force. The project’s measures also promote diversity and inclusiveness in recruitment processes and work communities.