The Unemployment Fund for Education and Science and Erko will merge and become Unemployment Fund Ote

The Unemployment Fund for Education and Science and the Unemployment Fund for Higher Educated Employees (Erko) will merge. The new fund will start operating on 1 January 2026 under the name Unemployment Fund Ote.

The merger of the funds does not require any action from the current members of the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science, as the membership of the fund will be automatically transferred to the Unemployment Fund Ote. There will be no changes to members’ unemployment security or the payment of benefits.

The Unemployment Fund Ote is a multidisciplinary unemployment fund open to highly educated wage earners. It is the fourth largest fund in Finland, with approximately 196,000 highly educated members. Ote pays its members’ earnings-related unemployment benefits.