Employee Well-being in Tourism Seasonal Work in Finnish Lapland

Abstract

This thesis discussed well-being of seasonal workers in the tourism industry in Finnish Lapland. Seasonal workers in this industry face many challenges, from heavy, imbalanced workloads and high levels of stress to job uncertainty and flexible schedules. Moreover, tour guides often work in physically challenging conditions such as extreme cold and high levels of physical activity. The thesis was commissioned by Nordic Odyssey, a small company providing nature-based guided tours in Rovaniemi and its surroundings.

The qualitative research for this paper was carried out by conducting eight semi- structured interviews with the staff members of the commissioning company, divided into two observation groups: guides and office workers. Participants of the study were asked to reflect on their feelings towards different areas of employee well-being, such as physical, psychological and cognitive well-being, work-life balance and organisational factors. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and typifying method was used to identify recurring themes and issues.

The results of the research proved that seasonal work in tourism can indeed be challenging. Nine recurring issues have been identified from the interviews. After result analysis, however, it has been suggested that most of these issues can be solved by managing the workload, respecting company’s values and providing more comprehensive training for the employees.