Working Life for Everyone seminar offers information and fresh perspectives for employers and employees
How could working life adapt to people with different needs, functional capacities and life situations? The Working Life for Everyone seminar brings together employers, jobseekers, experts and experts by experience in Tampere to discuss equality in working life and solutions that could enable as many people as possible to find their place in working life and succeed at work.
The current labour market situation is challenging. Entering or remaining in working life can be particularly difficult for people who need adjustments to their work or working conditions because of their functional capacity or life situation. Employment can also be hindered by incorrect assumptions about who is able to work and what kinds of jobs they can do.
The City of Tampere Disability Council’s Working Life for Everyone seminar will examine working life from a range of perspectives, including disability, long-term illness, partial work ability, neurodiversity, cultural background, and belonging to sexual and gender minorities. The seminar will also highlight solutions and practices that are already being used to support people in finding and remaining in employment.
Benefits for jobseekers and employers
The Working Life for Everyone seminar will provide jobseekers with examples of different routes into education and working life.
For employers, the seminar will provide information on topics such as workplace adjustments, recruitment and employing people with partial work ability. A key question is how employers can recognise a person’s skills and abilities rather than focusing primarily on their limitations or assumptions made about them.
Attend at City Hall or online
The Working Life for Everyone seminar will take place in Näsijärvi Hall at Tampere City Hall (Aleksis Kiven katu 14–16 C) on Thursday 26 November 2026 from 14:00 to 17:00.
Employers, jobseekers and anyone interested in equality in working life are welcome to attend. The event is free of charge.
Register for the seminar by Monday 23 November 2026 at the latest and indicate whether you will attend in person or online. Please note that Näsijärvi Hall has capacity for only 100 participants. Online participants will receive a link to the seminar before the event begins.
Registration for the Working Life for Everyone seminar (in Finnish)
The City of Tampere’s safer space principles will be observed at the event.
Programme
Doors open and coffee will be served from 13:30. The programme and online broadcast will begin at 14:00.
The seminar will be hosted by Katja Metsävainio, Chair of the City of Tampere Disability Council, and Council member Eero Herranen.
- Opening of the event and safer space principles / Katja Metsävainio and Eero Herranen, City of Tampere Disability Council
- Lived experience: If I were given a chance / Tino Taam-Katajisto, City of Tampere Disability Council
- Overview: Structural barriers to the employment of people with disabilities / Anni Kyröläinen, Secretary General of the Finnish Disability Forum, Accessibility Specialist, Riesa ry
- Structural solutions: What factors enable equal access to employment? / Senior Specialist Mari Bergman, Vates Foundation
- How is inclusion managed? Experiences from Solita’s DEI work / Head of Culture & Employee Experience Rea Ora, Solita
- Break (15 min)
- How can employers be supported when recruiting a person with partial work ability? / Personal Coach Anu Valkonen, Employment and Growth Services, City of Tampere
- What can we learn from supporting Roma people in education? / Project Manager Tanja Lindeman, Romako Korkeakoulutukseen project, Tampere University of Applied Sciences
- Family-friendly practices and networks as a competitive advantage / Specialist Soile Pylsy, Mothers in Business MiB ry
- Who is digital working life designed for? / EX & People Development Lead Amin Hassan, Gofore
- Welcome to the workplace, but are you really welcome? / Julianna Brandt-Smal, working life developer specialising in disability inclusion
- Summary of observations from the seminar
The event is part of a series of seminars organised by the City of Tampere Disability Council.
The Working Life for Everyone seminar is organised in cooperation with the City of Tampere’s Community and Development Services and the Tampere for All Development Programme.
Accessibility information / Tampere City Hall
Tampere City Hall is located at Aleksis Kiven katu 14–16 C. The main entrance is through door C. Signs from the entrance will guide visitors to Näsijärvi Hall.
- There are two accessible parking spaces in front of City Hall. Additional accessible parking spaces are available at Frenckell Square.
- There is space for drop-off and pick-up traffic in front of the main entrance to City Hall.
- A nightingale song serves as an audio beacon at the main entrance.
- The main entrance has a vestibule with two doors, both of which open using a push button. The button is located on a pillar to the right of the outer door.
- There are no thresholds in the entrance vestibule.
- The lobby has a smooth floor. Näsijärvi Hall has textile flooring.
- A tactile guidance strip on the lobby floor leads to the accessible toilet and restaurant, but does not extend as far as Näsijärvi Hall.
- There are two accessible toilets on the ground floor: one in the lobby opposite the information desk and another in the corridor between door D and the restaurant hall.
- The baby care room is located in the corridor between door D and the restaurant hall.
- An induction loop is available on the ground floor of City Hall.
- Assistance and guide dogs are welcome in the building.
City Hall staff can provide assistance with accessibility if required.
