New Collective Agreement for Salaried Employees in the Design and Consulting Sector – Strike Threat Lifted
Salaried employees in the design and consulting sector now have a new three-year collective agreement, as the Technology Industry Employers of Finland and Trade Union Pro approved the negotiation outcome on Saturday. As a result, the strike threat for next week is lifted, and the ban on overtime and additional work will end.
The approved wage settlement provides a total of 7.8 percent in pay increases over the three-year period. The negotiation outcome was reached on Friday in talks led by National Conciliator Anu Sajavaara and approved on Saturday, 29 March.
The new collective agreement will enter into force immediately after it has been signed today, 29 March. It will remain valid until the end of November 2027 and will be extended by one year at a time unless terminated no later than two years before the agreement’s expiry. The fulfilment of the agreement’s objectives, as well as the economic and employment outlook in the technology industry, will be reviewed in August 2026, at which point the agreement may be terminated.
The agreement applies to approximately 6,000 salaried employees in the design and consulting sector.
Wage Increases Primarily Negotiated Locally
Wage increases will primarily be negotiated at company or workplace level. The aim of local negotiations is to reach a wage solution that reflects the specific situation and needs of each company or workplace. The negotiations should take into account the company’s or workplace’s financial standing, order backlog, employment outlook, and cost competitiveness in the market.
If no local agreement is reached, wages will be adjusted according to the so-called fallback mechanism defined in the collective agreement. This fallback consists of a general increase and a company- or workplace-specific item, which is distributed by the employer.
The aim of wage adjustments is to support an incentive-based and fair wage structure, maintain wage differentiation, promote workplace productivity, implement the employer’s wage policy, and correct possible imbalances. An employee’s professional competence and job performance must be the guiding factors in the distribution of individual increases. When allocating wage increases, the employer must ensure that the total remuneration of each salaried employee, including fringe benefits, increases by at least 2.0 percent.
Fallback implementation if no local agreement is reached:
- Year 1: The employer must implement wage adjustments by 1 May 2025, or from the start of the next pay period thereafter, with a 2.0 percent general increase and a 0.5 percent company- or workplace-specific item.
- Year 2: The employer must implement wage adjustments by 1 March 2026, or from the start of the next pay period thereafter, with a 2.1 percent general increase and a 0.8 percent company- or workplace-specific item.
- Year 3: The employer must implement wage adjustments by 1 March 2027, or from the start of the next pay period thereafter, with a 1.5 percent general increase and a 0.9 percent company- or workplace-specific item.
Shop stewards are entitled to receive, within a reasonable time after the implementation of wage adjustments, an explanation of how the employer has allocated the increases.
Further information
