Finland

The population of Finland is approximately 5.5 million. The size of the country’s working-age population will decrease in the years to come due to an increasing rate of retirement. At the same time, the number of immigrants is growing and people are staying at work longer. In 2017, the labour force consisted of just under 2.5 million workers. The average number of people unemployed in 2017 was approximately 230 000, and the unemployment rate was around 8.6 %.

Today, most of the employed persons in Finland work in the service sector. The sectors employing the largest number of people are commerce, transport, hotel and catering services, education, health and social services and other services. Employment in the service sector is estimated to continue to increase in the future.

Some of the largest employers in Finland are Posti Group Corporation, offering postal and courier services, OP Financial Group, providing banking and insurance services, and ISS Palvelut Oy, which provides property and facility management services. The biggest number of recent new employment opportunities have been in small and medium-sized enterprises. In Finland, the public sector is also a big employer. For example, the City of Helsinki is the largest single employer in Finland. It offers employment in the sectors of education, health and social services, transport and maintenance.

Employers’ requirements regarding the staff they employ vary greatly according to the job. The absence of suitable employees in Finland is often due to jobseekers’ inadequate training or lack of relevant work experience or specialist skills.

Finland has a system in use that provides information on the professions and occupations regarding where there is a demand for workers or possible lack thereof (the Occupational Barometer).

Text last edited on: 11/2018

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