The State of Hiring in Finland
2025 Edition
Part of the “State of Hiring in Scandinavia” series
Executive Summary
Finland’s labour market has reached a paradoxical equilibrium: while the general economy has cooled, chronic skills mismatches leave critical sectors struggling to operate at full capacity.
According to the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), cyclical labour shortages have eased in construction and traditional industry, but strategic sectors like healthcare and ICT still report some of the most persistent and serious labour shortages in the economy.
At the same time, foreign professionals and recent graduates face persistent barriers to entering the job market. The government has repeatedly warned that failure to attract and retain international talent is one of the biggest threats to Finland’s competitiveness, yet hiring practices remain largely unchanged. Employers still recruit through narrow networks and tend to prefer “the safe choice” — Finnish speakers with established local experience.
1. Demographics and Labour Supply
Finland’s population is ageing faster than any other Nordic country. Natural population change is negative: deaths have exceeded births for several years, and only immigration has kept total population from shrinking.
Tilastokeskus (Statistics Finland) reports that the total fertility rate fell to about 1.25 in 2024, the lowest since records began in 1776 and far below the replacement rate of 2.1 1 2. Without consistently high net immigration, the working-age population would be on a clear downward trajectory.
Earlier projections suggested a substantial decline in the 15–64 working-age population by 2030. Newer projections, updated after record-high immigration in 2023, indicate that the working-age population may stabilise or grow slightly in the short term, but long-term pressure remains as ageing accelerates 1.
The demographic dependency ratio — the number of under-15s and over-64s per 100 residents aged 15–64 — has risen from around 52 in 2010 to just over 60 in the mid-2020s, and is projected to approach 70 by mid-century if current trends continue 1. This steadily increases the burden on those in work.
The research institute Etla estimates that Finland must attract on the order of 40,000–45,000 new net immigrants per year over the coming decades just to maintain the size of its workforce and support the current welfare model 3.
After a record peak in 2023, net migration declined by roughly one-fifth in 2024, according to Statistics Finland — from just under 58,000 to a little over 47,000 4. In other words, immigration remains historically high, but the surge appears to be stabilising rather than continuously rising, while out-migration of professionals dissatisfied with career prospects is becoming more visible.
2. Employers’ Perspective: “We can’t find the right people”
The recession of 2024 cooled the previously “hot” labour market and reduced vacancies in some sectors. Yet beneath the cycle, the structural shortage remains acute.
Healthcare: The shortage is critical. Earlier expert estimates suggested that Finland would need around 30,000 additional nurses by 2030 to meet eldercare demands and staffing regulations 5. More recent modelling by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health points to the need for tens of thousands of additional healthcare workers by 2040 compared to 2021 levels 6.
Tech & ICT: Despite layoffs in the gaming sector and some startup corrections, deep-tech, industrial digitalisation and specialist ICT firms report significant hiring difficulties, with senior roles often taking many months to fill, according to international talent surveys and recruitment reports 7.
“Pula osaajista on vakavin kasvun este.”
”The shortage of skilled workers is the most serious barrier to growth.” — EK Chief Economist 8
Yet many employers continue to insist on near-native Finnish language proficiency and vaguely defined “cultural fit” as prerequisites — criteria that often function as gatekeeping mechanisms rather than true indicators of competence.
3. Candidates’ Perspective: “We are here, but not seen”
A 2024 study on international talent retention by the University of Eastern Finland, funded by Business Finland, found that a majority of foreign professionals had considered leaving Finland within the next few years due to “limited career opportunities and closed recruitment networks” 9.
Labour market studies on highly educated immigrants in Finland show that many are underemployed or working outside their field, even after completing Finnish degrees and investing heavily in integration. In some samples, roughly two in five respondents report that their job does not match their education level or expertise 9.
The discrimination they face is quantifiable. In extensive field experiments led by sociologist Akhlaq Ahmad, and a follow-up study by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the penalty for a foreign name in Finland was found to be among the highest in Europe:
Finnish Name: Baseline callback rate.
Russian or other non-Finnish European name: Applicants need roughly 2× as many applications to receive a callback.
Somali or Iraqi Name: In earlier experiments, applicants needed up to 3–4× as many applications to receive a callback compared to Finnish-named peers 10.
Even after several years in Finland and learning the language, many respondents report being rejected on the grounds of “fit.” As one foreign professional put it in Yle’s reporting on workplace discrimination:
“Even after years in Finland and fluent Finnish, I’m still asked if I’ll ‘fit in’.
What does that mean?” 11
4. How Hiring Really Works in Finland
Research on recruitment practices, combined with guidance from TE Services and Work in Finland, indicates that an estimated 60–70% of Finnish jobs are filled through informal channels or internal networks, rather than through open job advertisements 12.
This phenomenon is often called the “Hidden Job Market” (piilotyöpaikat).
Figure 1: The Finnish “Iceberg”. A large share of roles are filled without ever being publicly listed.
Guidance material commonly notes that:
“Suurin osa työpaikoista täytetään ennen kuin ne edes tulevat julkiseen hakuun.”
”Most jobs are filled before they ever reach public posting.” 12
This practice, rooted in Finland’s high-trust and consensus culture, reduces administrative burden but also perpetuates homogeneity. Employers repeatedly cite “sopivuus” (”fit”) as a decisive criterion. Research on Finnish workplace culture notes that “fit” often functions as a cultural code for sameness: a way to reproduce the familiar under the guise of teamwork and safety.
5. Structural Causes
Finland’s labour market challenges are not simply about numbers; they are about how work and hiring are organised.
Demographics
Rapid ageing and a fertility rate of around 1.25 — the lowest in the Nordics — reduce the domestic labour supply and increase dependency on immigration 2 3.
Informal recruitment
The “hidden job market” means that a majority of jobs are filled via networks, referrals or internal mobility, which systematically excludes those without Finnish social capital 12.
Cultural homogeneity
Strong emphasis on “fit” and “team chemistry” favours familiarity over diversity, and often over competence.
Language expectations
Employers frequently require near-native Finnish even for roles where work could be done primarily in English, effectively narrowing the pool of candidates.
Weak enforcement in practice
While Finland has robust equality legislation on paper, enforcement in recruitment relies heavily on individual complaints and soft guidance, with limited proactive monitoring and few visible sanctions for discriminatory hiring 10 13.
6. What Has Been Done So Far — and With What Results
6.1 The Talent Boost Programme
Launched in 2017 and renewed into the 2020s, Talent Boost is Finland’s flagship initiative to attract and retain international talent. It funds relocation support, city-brand marketing and cooperation between higher education institutions and employers.
Outcome: Talent Boost has increased awareness of Finland and contributed to higher inflows of international students and experts. However, multiple evaluations and research projects conclude that retention remains the weak link: many international graduates and professionals still leave Finland within a few years due to limited career prospects 9 14.
6.2 Start-up Permit Scheme
Business Finland offers a fast-track start-up permit for foreign founders who establish innovative, growth-oriented companies in Finland.
Outcome: The scheme has had a positive impact on the Helsinki startup ecosystem and helped attract entrepreneurial talent. However, it remains a niche tool relative to Finland’s broader labour market challenges, and its scale is not sufficient to offset demographic trends on its own 7.
6.3 Integration Act (KOTO24) Reform
The comprehensive KOTO24 reform of the Integration Act (in force from January 2025) aims to speed up employment paths by giving municipalities greater responsibility for integration services, including employment-promoting measures and language training 15.
Outcome: Implementation is still in its early stages. Municipalities report resource bottlenecks and varying capacity to provide services. In many areas, waiting times for language training and tailored integration services remain several months, which delays entry into the labour market and weakens early attachment 15.
7. Policy Proposals
Finland’s challenge is less about the absence of policy frameworks and more about process inertia. Initiatives like Talent Boost and the Integration Act reforms focus heavily on outcomes (employment, retention) without sufficiently reshaping the input side of hiring: how jobs are defined, advertised and filled.
Three reforms could shift Finland toward a more transparent and merit-based model:
Transparency audits for all publicly funded organisations — verifying that every advertised job represents a genuine, open competition, with clear documentation of the hiring process.
Anonymised CV screening as a standard step for state and municipal roles, reducing the impact of names, age and other bias-inducing details at the first screening stage.
Outcome-linked funding — tying a portion of public grants and programme funding to measurable hiring and retention outcomes for international and minority candidates, not just to the existence of diversity strategies on paper.
Recent foresight work on Finland’s competence gap stresses that the skills shortage is increasingly seen as structural rather than purely quantitative — a question of how organisations organise work, value competencies and open (or close) their recruitment processes 9.
8. Conclusion
Finland faces a hiring paradox of its own making.
The country invests heavily in talent attraction while maintaining hiring practices that systematically exclude many of the professionals it claims to need. Companies report severe skill shortages in healthcare, education and tech, while qualified candidates—many already in Finland—struggle to access opportunities because of informal networks and cultural gatekeeping.
The gap between Finland’s egalitarian self-image and its exclusionary hiring reality widens year by year. International professionals arrive, learn the language, pay taxes and integrate socially, yet encounter repeated rejection on vague “fit” criteria that mask risk-aversion and bias. Many eventually leave, taking their skills — and Finland’s investment in their integration — with them.
The hidden job market, the 2–4× application penalty for foreign names, and the persistent underemployment of highly educated immigrants are not mysteries. They are outcomes of choices embedded in recruitment processes that prioritise familiarity over openness and trust over transparency.
Without structural reform of how hiring is conducted — not just how it is regulated — Finland’s competence crisis will persist. It will remain, to a significant extent, self-inflicted and avoidable.
Tilastokeskus. Väestöennuste 2025 and Migration Statistics. https://stat.fi/en/statistics/muutl
Tilastokeskus. Syntyneet 2024. https://stat.fi/en/publication/cm1kgb0io92hk07w7910ibw3b
Etla. Maahanmuutto ja työvoiman riittävyys. https://www.etla.fi/en/publications/reports/maahanmuutto-ja-tyovoiman-riittavyys-taloudellisten-vaikutusten-arviointia/
Tilastokeskus. Muuttoliike ja siirtolaisuus 2024. https://stat.fi/en/publication/cm1jbjfbr4g1907w28shdshjr
Kröger, T. Expert: Finland needs 30k more healthcare workers by 2030. Yle, February 10, 2021. https://yle.fi/a/3-11782213
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Sufficiency and availability of healthcare and social welfare personnel. https://stm.fi/en/sufficiency-and-availability-of-healthcare-and-social-welfare-personnel
Finders Seekers. International Tech Talent in Finland Research Report 2024. https://www.findersseekers.io/blog/international-tech-talent-in-finland-research-report-2024
Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto (EK). Suhdannebarometri lokakuu 2025. https://ek.fi/tavoitteemme/talouspoliitiikka/suhdannetiedustelut/suhdannebarometri-lokakuu-2025/
University of Eastern Finland. Finland attracts international talent but struggles to retain it (Business Finland funded research). https://www.uef.fi/en/article/finland-attracts-international-talent-but-struggles-to-retain-it
Ahmad, A. Ethnic discrimination in recruitment in Finland. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 2020. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616696.2020.1822536
Yle. Survey: 40% of foreign specialists face discrimination in Finnish workplaces. October 25, 2022. https://yle.fi/a/3-12666816
Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö (TEM) and Work in Finland. Information on the “hidden job market” and informal recruitment channels. https://tem.fi/en/labour-migration-and-integration and https://www.workinfinland.com
Tasa-arvovaltuutettu (Ombudsman for Equality). Publications. https://tasa-arvo.fi/en/publications
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Talent Boost Programme. https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/165399/VN_2024_4.pdf
Kuntaliitto / Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration. KOTO24 - Comprehensive reform of the Integration Act. https://kotoutuminen.fi/en/koto24-en