University of Helsinki To Lay Off a Thousand People (yle.fi)

jones_supa writes: University of Helsinki, the place where Linus Torvalds got his degree as well, will reduce staff by 980 people, with 570 being laid off by the end of 2017. In addition, the university will reorganize and incorporate certain divisions including continuing education. Professors, teachers and researchers are criticizing the cuts, which coincide with the university's administrative and educational overhaul. The staff cuts reflect the government's drastic funding cuts to education, which plays one part in the effort of trying to help the difficult economic situation of today's Finland. The university estimates that of the 980 positions, terminations during this coming spring will account for 570 positions. Of the employees to be made redundant, 75 are teaching and research staff and 495 other staff. The rest of the cuts will be spread over the coming years.

Comments

how is this relevant to /.

[Anonymous Coward]

I get it that Torvalds went to school there etc, but this isn't any different than any other school that hundreds of other developers have gone to that have had staff cuts. Those don't make /.

Why is this here at all?

Re:how is this relevant to /.

[Anonymous Coward]

Before Stephen "I'm-totally-not-a-Microsoft-stooge" Elop (or is that Flop?) took over, Nokia still had around 60% share of the cell phone market and was still over half a billion handsets a year even though they were starting to lose ground to the premium smartphone. After Elop came in and fired Nokia's engineers and killed off all platforms except Microsofts shitty windows phone, Nokia was the walking dead. Now, there's a lot of analysis out there about whether Elop was a trojan that Microsoft used to devalue Nokia before it bought the company, but virtually all analysis point to the decision to jettison Symbian and the other technological platforms Nokia was working on and switch to Windows Phones exclusively to take on a market already dominated by Samsung Android and Apple's iPhone as the catastrophic blow to Nokia. That's was a Microsoft decision.

Re:how is this relevant to /.

[Kiuas]

the world isn't free. If you want an education, figure out how to pay for it. Maybe lots of loans for that basket weaving class.

Wow, americans straw manning universal education/health care arguments by the age old 'nothings free' -argument. How surprising.

We are already paying for it, dumb ass. We've just decided that it should be collectively and publicly funded because one needs not to look very far to understand that limiting education chances based on the income of the person/their family is not a solution.

I want my fellow citizens to be able to get higher education and health care and other base necessities of modern day life regardless of whether or not they were born to a rich family. And I want people to continue to graduate without student debt weighing them down so they can actually spend the money they make and thus help the economy. This system works, and has worked in here and across Europe for decades. it's never been free, but it's still cheaper, per person, than any of the privatized university models.

I'm paying for my past education and the education of the coming generations by paying across the board higher taxes than most people in say, the US- And I'm completely alright with that, as are most of the people here, so shut the fuck up.

Re:how is this relevant to /.

[CptPicard]

In other words, this is exactly what I expected it to be -- butthurt lefties trying to raise up negative sentiments abroad, even when the UH really doesn't mean anything to your average slashdot reader. The "ooh, look at how we are perceived abroad now!" tactic is typical. In reality, nobody cares, but just might end up with the notion that something awful is happening in Finland.

I am a UH CS dept alumnus just like Torvalds is, but if something's got to give in our current economic situation, something's got to give. As I see it, we already over-educate very average Master's degree holders at mostly average universities. Not everyone actually needs an academic education that tends to last until the person's 30s (we've got very slow students as well). I find that despite having gone to that particular school, I am mostly self-educated in most things, even though I've got the degree diploma. So it is more important to teach people how to teach themselves, than to formally over-educate them.

To make our universities better, we actually might look into raising the bar a bit and doing less but better.

Refugees

[Anonymous Coward]

Well they need money to pay for all those refugees. Population replacement is not cheap!

Re:Refugees

[p51d007]

THAT was my thought exactly! I'm surprised all of Europe isn't bankrupt from the influx of "refugees". Should have sent them all the oil rich Saudi, Omen, Qatar, but they sent them all over Europe to spread that ISIS crap. They are demanding free this and free that.

Re:Refugees

[tnk1]

Actually, Syria has a lot of Russian and Soviet weaponry. So does Iraq.

Strictly speaking, we didn't cause ISIS, we entered the country in a war, and then left it before we should have, but ISIS was created and abetted by those who have funded it and given it support.

Certainly the occupation of Iraq and the Syrian Civil War have given ISIS an opportunity to prosper, but you needed people willing to be ISIS for that to happen. It doesn't just happen automatically when you invade a country or when you leave it. We could have left in complete disorder and there didn't have to be an ISIS at the end of it. Let's put blame where blame belongs. The US and Soviet/Russian governments provided opportunities for ISIS, but ISIS is nothing without sympathizers in those countries and in the greater Muslim world who support them.

Re:Refugees

[jandersen]

I, as a Dane - well, ex-Dane now - feel deeply saddened by the continuing trend in Scandinavia towards this narrow-minded duck-pondism (read The Ugly Duckling if you don't know what that means). We used to be the bleeding edge in liberal-mindedness and tolerance, and now we become ever more xenophobic and try to blame 'the others', 'the foreigners' for what is basically down to poor management and lack of foresight by consecutive governments.

Firstly, the myth that immigration costs us too much: in the short term, yes, it can be a burden to integrate newcomers into society, no one's denying it. In the long term, though, these people become strong contributors to society, at least if we allow them. So, what we spend on integration is actually an investment that pays off - and their contribution will help us maintain care for the elderly, which we can't really do, if we rely only on our current populations. The thing is, the people who up their sticks and move abroad in search of a better future are by and large the best people: the ones who are bright enough and have ambitions - we should welcome them, because they will help us make our society better.

Secondly, cutting funding to education is possibly the most idiotic thing we can possibly do; in Scandinavia, it is only really Sweden that has any significant, natural resources, I believe, the rest of us have to rely on being good in the knowledge industry. Less education means less competitiveness in the future; meanwhile emerging economies like China, India etc produce ever more, very highly qualified academics. We should invest massively in education to keep up, and preferably at the front of the race, but we don't. We just blame the poor people, who are forced to flee their homes. If we continue like this, then there will come a time, perhaps in a decade or two, when Scandinavia is back to being the stale backwater it used to be centuries ago, and China or India will be THE place to be.

Re:Refugees

[LordWabbit2]

Bullshit, you have been arming the "moderate" rebels for years, who either defect to ISIS or hand the weapons over to ISIS. Gaddaffi used to be your ally until you turned on him and bombed the living shit out of his country. How water treatment plants and power stations are military targets I still haven't figured out. America's democracy is a joke, no matter who you vote in, all you are changing is the puppet in front of the camera's. Why the hell did you invade Iraq when the "mastermind" behind 9/11 was in Afghanistan? Oil.

Strictly speaking we didn't cause the fire.

Yes you did, with your meddling in their politics, funding and arming "freedom fighters" which is a small disgruntled minority you can find in ANY country to further your own political and financial agenda's. Drone strikes have created more radical extremists then anything else you have done. If I was at a wedding and you dropped a bomb on it because my nephew Yusuf once dialled a wrong number and is now linked to a terrorist group I would be pretty fucking radical after that.

Sure we removed the fire department and we struck the match

So why the fuck did you even do THAT? Their biggest issue has always been America meddling in their affairs, the problem is your economy is driven by war, you keep bloody starting them (although you suck at ending them - and I don't agree with that list either, you lost the Korean war). America has been around about 236 years, and for 214 years of that you have been at war. Around 90% of the time.

So it's really not our fault...

Yes, yes it is.


I also love how any critical posts of the USA get modded into oblivion. See you on -1 side.

Re:Refugees

[swb]

yes, it can be a burden to integrate newcomers into society, no one's denying it. In the long term, though, these people become strong contributors to society, at least if we allow them.

I think that's the rub, though, and in particular with Muslim immigrants. They hang onto a religiously-driven cultural conservatism and reject the more liberal cultural values of their host country, self-sorting into ghettos. There's an expectation the country to which they have immigrated needs to change its norms and laws to accommodate their religious and cultural preferences. They see the host country's lack of willingness to change for their sake as discrimination. This leads to unemployment, poverty and lately, a tendency to be attracted to radicalization.

Your process would work more like you expect with immigrants who were either willing to abandon their cultural and religious practices that were incompatible with their host country or already had a culture and values similar to the host country. Even then I recognize that it's not easy, but at least you obtain a relatively rapid integration that results in the economic gains.

But even then what you're arguing for is that Scandinavia needs and wants is economic expansion via labor pool expansion, not that there's something missing from it socially and culturally that the contributions of conservative Islam. By and large those qualities tend to result in conflict and social schisms which are counter-productive to economic growth and social stability.

Re:Refugees

[AmiMoJo]

If you provide fertile soil, plant the seeds and nurture them then technically you didn't "create" the fruit, but most people would hold you largely responsible for it.

We broke those countries and left them in a state where an organization like ISIS could come into existence. We must accept responsibility.

Re:Refugees

[swb]

Yeah, they are just not like us, with their murky skin and garlic-breath, is that what you are saying? Why would they have to abandon their identity? That is an absurd and shameful thing to demand, and it is designed solely to ensure that muslims understand that you think they are somehow lower than you. We in the West would hardly feel it was reasonable to have to abandon our culture and identity in a similar situation. You are simply being mean and rather despicable.

No, it's their wholesale repression of women, genital mutilation, honor killings, repression of homosexuals, lack of belief in separation of church and state, the use of amputation and execution for the punishment of religious crimes.

On those subjects, you're absolutely right -- anyone who believes women are second class citizens, essentially property, I do believe is lower than me. Those are medieval beliefs.

I also value the separation of religion and state and believe that religion has NO role in the operation of the state, and I hold anyone who would believe that fantasy beliefs in a mystical being should play a role in governance to be lower than me, especially when said beliefs are to be backed with the killing authority of the state. Again, this is a medieval mindset, a primitive outlook on par with gladiatorial contests, crucifixion and human sacrifice which has NO PLACE in the modern world.

Those are the beliefs and attitudes I expect to be abandoned when adopting citizenship in the modern, liberal west.

But what about the Basic Income?!??

[Anonymous Coward]

A few months ago we were told that Finland is doing so well that everybody is going to get a basic income...

http://politics.slashdot.org/story/15/10/31/2125226/finland-begins-to-shape-basic-income-proposal

Re:But what about the Basic Income?!??

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me correct you:
A few months ago we were told that Finland's pre-existing welfare system could be overhauled into a guaranteed basic income, and save money in the process.

The welfare costs are already there. Guaranteed basic income reduces the administrative costs by removing the need for the government to investigate and decide whether or not you deserve the money; thus either allowing the government to save money or increase the overall welfare payout to citizens without increasing any taxes.

Re:This would n'er happen to a government-run coll

[sectokia]

Unlike most western countries, at least they understand that these non productive jobs are part of the problem. They need to cut these jobs and cut the taxes used top pay for them. This will allow for extra demand and new jobs in productive fields that service that demand. NZ dis the same thing long ago, with gigantic cuts. Make work jobs like park rangers were cut from 20,000 to literally single digit numbers. They have had a massive economic turn around.

Citizens come last

[zapadnik]

In 2015 Finland accepted 15,000 more asylum seekers at a cost of EU 15,000 per head. That works out to EU 225 million *more* in 2015 due to some legitimate asylum seekers mixed in with a lot of opportunistic economic migrants:
http://sputniknews.com/europe/...

Imagine if a portion of that money had gone to existing citizens instead - and the asylum seekers kept closer to their point of origin while receiving the other portion for their care - it's cheaper to help them closer to their point of origin, like in a neighboring country.

Too bad the politicians and bureaucrats in the West always consider their own citizens and tax payers last when deciding where to spend money taken from those very same tax payers.

Re:Citizens come last

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine if a portion of that money had gone to existing citizens instead - and the asylum seekers kept closer to their point of origin while receiving the other portion for their care - it's cheaper to help them closer to their point of origin, like in a neighboring country.

Watch out, or the "progressives" will start calling you a Nazi, or Hitler, or xenophobic, or whatever other hackneyed, overused, erroneous label they use these days in an attempt to terrorize good people into complying with the agenda of the globalists.

Re:Citizens come last

[Jack Griffin]

Imagine if a portion of that money had gone to existing citizens instead - and the asylum seekers kept closer to their point of origin while receiving the other portion for their care - it's cheaper to help them closer to their point of origin, like in a neighboring country.

It's a little more complicated than that. The point of foreign aid is not just to feel good about helping others, it's a National Security prevention measure. You can let other humans rot, and all they will do is find a way to kill you and take your stuff. Or you can try and help them out of a hole and hopefully they'll leave you alone, or even better become prosperous enough to buy your products and boost your economy.
There is no cheap option, you either lots of money, or a lot more.

If this is the middle class

[AHuxley]

What is happening at the lower ends of society?
Why is the EU allowing itself to be flooded with people with few or no skills that will need long term generational support if it cant even look after its own best and brightest?
If a nation is so 'poor' why accept more poor people in who will need funds from a government who cant their own fund higher education?
Time for some national interest and ensuring educational funding is placed above EU policy.
Finland was able to keep the Soviet Union out, time to look after its own funding again and stop wasting limited funds on the EU's rapid population growth projects.

Re:If this is the middle class

[tsotha]

Why is the EU allowing itself to be flooded with people with few or no skills that will need long term generational support if it cant even look after its own best and brightest?

Because the people running the EU (I'm looking at you, Angela Merkel) have decided the solution to low birth rates is the mass importation of people from other countries. It's cultural suicide. I think they've pretty much realized the whole thing was a bad idea, but where to go from here? The immigrants aren't leaving.

Muslim Syiran Migrants Are More Important

[jdwolfe]

Let's lay off 1,000 Finnish Professors and Academic staff but let in millions of Muslim Syrian migrants that are going to immediately be placed in publicly funded houses and food provided by the Finnish Citizens. What's more important, the working class and Finnish educators or Muslim opportunists posing as Syrian refugees?

Re:Muslim Syiran Migrants Are More Important

[GNious]

Yeah, Stupid Finland for not just letting people rot outside of its borders, but trying to do the humane thing, even while in an economic downturn where they (concurrently) have to lay off part of the workforce at a university.

Re:A basic income would fix that problem.

[ScentCone]

A basic income would fix that problem.

So true! When there isn't enough economic activity to generate the jobs that would make things like expensive university programs easy to afford, the best plan is definitely to spend more money you don't have (massive debt!) in order to just hand it out without any connection to productivity (inflation!). Excellent idea.

Euro

[Anonymous Coward]

As in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc etc., the inability of the economy to recover is the consequence of adopting a currency that is run to benefit Germany instead of your own country.

Re:No way this is even possible

[Jack Griffin]

I have it on good authority - years of reading Slashdot posts - that European countries are enlightened, problem-free utopias.

You mustn't read so good. That's not your fault though, it's the relatively poor education system you have.