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Research Report · April 2026

Finland Hiring &
Recruitment 2026

100+ quantitative data points on Finland's evolving labour market — unemployment, vacancies, talent shortages, wages, immigration, and the future of work.

Compiled by 9CV9 Research · Data: Statistics Finland, Eurostat, OECD, Bank of Finland
11.1%
Unemployment
March 2026 — Highest since May 2015
22,700
Job Vacancies
Q4 2025 — Lowest since 2016
24.3%
Youth Unemployed
Ages 15–24, March 2026
130K
IT Workers Needed
Technology sector demand by 2030
Employment & Unemployment
Core labour market indicators — Statistics Finland, Eurostat, Bank of Finland
11.1%
Unemployment Rate (March 2026)
Finland's highest jobless rate since May 2015, signalling sustained labour market weakness despite gradual economic recovery.
2.524M
Employed Persons (March 2026)
Down 21,000 year-on-year; the total employed workforce continues a gradual contraction from the 2022 peak.
315,000
Total Unemployed (March 2026)
Including 169,000 men and 148,000 women — a 30,000 rise year-on-year, underlining broad labour market deterioration.
9.7%
Full-Year Unemployment Rate (2025)
Up 1.3 percentage points from 2024's 8.4%, confirming 2025 as the year Finland's unemployment decisively broke the 9% threshold.
76.0%
Employment Rate (ages 20–64, 2025)
Fell 0.7 pp from 2024, yet remains historically elevated — Finland still above its pre-pandemic employment baseline.
71.4%
Employment Rate (ages 15–64, 2025)
Ministry of Economic Affairs projects this will rise to 72.3% by 2027 as the economy gradually recovers.
10.6%
EU's Highest Unemployment (Nov 2025)
According to Eurostat, Finland recorded the highest unemployment rate among all 27 EU member states in November 2025.
2.59M
Average Employed, Full-Year 2025
12,000 fewer employed year-on-year in 2025; all the decrease was among women, while men's employment held stable.
19.0%
Part-Time Workers (2025)
493,000 persons worked part-time; the most common reason was lack of full-time work, cited by 132,000 individuals.
-1.2%
Total Hours Worked Decline (2025)
The economy shed 4,020 million total working hours — 1.2% fewer than 2024 — reflecting reduced workforce attachment.
Job Vacancies & Hiring Demand
Open position trends and sectoral vacancy data — Statistics Finland, Eurostat
Vacancies halved since 2022 — the steepest recruitment collapse in a decade

Finland went from ~68,000 open positions in Q2 2022 to just 22,700 in Q4 2025. Every major sector including manufacturing, construction, and professional services recorded sharp contractions.

22,700
Job Vacancies Q4 2025
Lowest quarter-end vacancy figure since 2016 — down 31% year-on-year, reflecting employers' extreme caution over hiring.
34,100
Average Annual Vacancies (2025)
Full-year 2025 average declined 22% from 2024 — a sustained, not seasonal, drop in recruitment demand across Finland.
-40%
Vacancy Drop Q2 2024 → Q2 2025
From approximately 47,000 open posts in Q2 2024 to just 28,900 in Q2 2025 — one of the steepest quarterly declines on record.
1.40%
Job Vacancy Rate (Dec 2024)
Finland's aggregate job vacancy rate as reported by Eurostat — well below the 2022 peak, indicating a softer recruitment environment.
70%
Vacancies in Private Sector (2025)
Nearly 7 in 10 open jobs were in private companies; municipalities accounted for 17% and central government just 3.2%.
43%
Temporary Contract Vacancies (2025)
Almost half of all advertised positions in 2025 were fixed-term, signalling employer reluctance to commit to permanent headcount.
12,400
Helsinki-Uusimaa Vacancies (2025)
The capital region dominated the vacancy landscape, accounting for roughly 36% of all open Finnish positions throughout 2025.
100,000+
Total Job Openings (Govt Estimate)
The Finnish government estimates over 100,000 positions remain unfilled across sectors at any given time, primarily in shortage fields.
Youth & Structural Unemployment
Age-specific and structural unemployment indicators
24.3%
Youth Unemployment Rate (March 2026)
One in four young Finns aged 15–24 in the labour force is now without work — the highest youth jobless rate in recent years.
24.6%
Youth Unemployment (Feb 2026)
Up 0.7 pp from a year earlier — youth are bearing a disproportionate share of Finland's overall labour market deterioration.
57%
Structurally Unemployed (June 2025)
EVA research finds that more than half of Finland's unemployed are "structurally" jobless — unlikely to find work even during economic recovery.
75,000
Under-30s Registered Unemployed (June 2025)
A concerning cohort of young jobseekers representing both economic and social risk if intervention isn't scaled rapidly.
27,000
Young People With Zero Work History
27,000 under-30s have never held a formal job — and once combined with long unemployment, their 1-year re-employment probability drops to just 7%.
€580M
Annual Youth Unemployment Benefits Cost
Annual unemployment benefit expenditure for young people alone — a figure rising every year as structural exclusion deepens.
140,000
Forecast Long-Term Unemployed (2026)
Ministry of Economic Affairs projects 140,000 long-term unemployed people in Finland by 2026, rising to 142,000 by 2027.
18.8%
Youth Unemployment Rate (2024 Annual)
Three times higher than the 35–44 age group rate of 6.5% — a persistent structural divide between age cohorts in Finland.
Wages, Salaries & Gender Pay Gap
Earnings data and gender equality indicators — Statistics Finland, ETLA
€3,564
Median Monthly Wage (2023)
Median for all full-time wage earners; varies significantly by sector, role, and region.
€4,258
Men's Avg Monthly Earnings (2023)
Men's average across all sectors — spans managers, technical, and manual roles.
€3,608
Women's Avg Monthly Earnings (2023)
Women earn ~€650/month less — a gap that has changed little over the past decade despite equality programmes.
15.8%
Gender Pay Gap (2024)
Average earnings of full-time women are 15.8% below men's — one of the largest in the EU and Nordic region.
14.5%
Target Pay Gap by 2027
Finland's 2024–2027 Equal Pay Programme aims to narrow the gap to 14.5% — a modest target reflecting entrenched structural barriers.
+0.5%
Wage Growth (Oct 2025, YoY)
Finland's wage growth has decelerated sharply — near zero in real terms — as economic weakness constrains pay rises.
€4,400
Software Developer Avg Monthly Pay
ICT professionals command a significant premium; top cloud and AI specialists can exceed €10,000/month.
€5,000–8,000
Physician Monthly Earnings
Healthcare professionals earn well above the national average, reflecting Finland's critical supply shortage in the sector.
36 hrs
Average Work Week (Employees)
Finnish employees average around 36 hours per week — shorter than many EU peers, reflecting strong work-life balance culture.
Shortage Occupations & Skills Demand
Critical hiring pressure points — TEM, CEDEFOP, Technology Industries of Finland
56 shortage occupations tracked nationally — 9 declared "critical" in June 2025

Finland's Ministry of Economic Affairs tracks 56 shortage roles. In June 2025, a landmark government decree listed 9 professions so critically understaffed that foreign workers can switch employers without a new permit application.

2,342
Open Practical Nurse Positions (2025)
TE Services logged 2,342 practical nurse vacancies at a single point in time — the largest single-occupation shortage in Finland.
220+
Unfilled Physician Positions
Over 220 full-time physician roles remain vacant nationally; rural regions like Kainuu record 20% vacancy rates in physician posts.
130,000
New IT Workers Needed by 2030
Finland's technology sector requires 130,000 new hires over the decade; ICT demand already outpaced domestic supply by 2025.
140,000
New Tech Professionals Needed (4 Yrs)
Technology Industries of Finland survey: 140,000 new professionals needed over four years; 74% of recruitment targets higher-education skills.
5,500
Orgs Under Cybersecurity Compliance
Finland's Cybersecurity Act (April 2025) pulled 5,500 organisations into mandatory NIS2 compliance — a fivefold increase from the prior 1,100.
15%
Annual Cybersecurity Sector Growth
Finland's cybersecurity market is growing at 15% annually, projected to reach USD 471.7 million by 2029, driving acute hiring demand.
18,000
New IT Positions Opening in 2025
Tech sector expected to open approximately 18,000 IT roles in 2025, driven by cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing, and green tech.
330,000
Current Tech Sector Employees
Finland's tech sector employs 330,000 people directly; with 8,000 retiring annually, the talent pipeline faces continuous strain.
-16%
ICT Job Posting Decline (Jan–Aug 2025)
Overall ICT job postings fell 16% nationally — yet cloud, DevOps, and cybersecurity roles remained acutely undersupplied.
150K → 220K
Healthcare Workforce Growth Target
Social and healthcare workforce projected to expand from 150,000 to 220,000 — requiring massive international recruitment efforts.
International Recruitment & Immigration
Work-based immigration trends — Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), OECD
19,000+
Work-Based Permits Issued (2024)
Finland issued over 19,000 work-based residence permits in 2024 — a strong intake that would decline sharply in 2025.
11,324
First Work Permit Applications (2025)
Work-based applications dropped ~25% from 2024, primarily due to Finland's weak economy and high unemployment deterring employers from hiring abroad.
50,060
Foreign Nationals Arrived (2025)
Immigration fell 13,905 below 2024 levels — but net migration (+34,852) still single-handedly offset Finland's natural population decrease.
30,000
Annual International Talent Target by 2030
Finland's government aims to attract 30,000 international workers annually by 2030, plus 15,000 foreign students, to address structural shortages.
€1,600
Min Monthly Salary for Work Permit
From January 2025, all work-based residence permit applicants must demonstrate at least €1,600/month salary — screening out low-wage roles.
-24%
Specialist Visa App Drop (Q1–Q3 2024)
Applications for specialist work visas dropped 24% in the first three quarters of 2024 vs 2023 — a warning sign for Finland's talent competitiveness.
47% → 54%
Intl Tech Experts Planning to Stay
Support for remaining in Finland among international tech experts dropped from 54% to 47% in just one year, raising brain drain concerns.
82%
Tech Companies Planning Intl Hiring
82% of Technology Industries of Finland member companies plan international recruitment over the next four years to fill domestic talent gaps.
4
Bilateral Recruitment Agreements
Finland signed healthcare talent recruitment agreements with India, Brazil, Vietnam, and the Philippines specifically to channel nurses and doctors to Finnish employers.
14,124
Record Naturalisations (2025)
A record number of foreign residents were naturalised as Finnish citizens in 2025, led by residents from Iraq, Russia, and Syria.
Remote & Hybrid Work
Flexible work penetration — Statistics Finland Quality of Work Life Survey
35%
Wage Earners Working Remotely (2023)
35% of Finnish wage and salary earners worked remotely in 2023 — above pre-pandemic levels but well below the 2021 pandemic peak of 41%.
70%+
Remote-Capable Workers in Finland
Finland ranks among Europe's most flexible countries — alongside Netherlands, Ireland, and Germany — with over 70% of eligible workers allowed to work from home.
68%
Upper-Level Employees Working Remotely
Upper-level salaried employees have the highest remote adoption rate — nearly 7 in 10 work remotely at least part of the time.
64%
Central Government Remote Workers (2023)
Public sector leads remote adoption; private sector stands at 45%, while local government and wellbeing services have much lower rates.
22%
Working Remotely ≥50% of Hours (2023)
Over one in five Finnish workers now primarily work from home — a structural shift that is reshaping housing markets and urban economies.
13%
Free to Choose Remote Days Entirely
Around 13% of all Finnish wage earners — roughly 1 in 8 — have almost complete freedom to choose how often they work remotely.
Demographics, Ageing & Labour Market Outlook
Population and forward-looking projections — Statistics Finland, Ministry of Economic Affairs
5.66M
Finland's Population (End of 2025)
Population reached 5,656,900 at year-end 2025; immigration is now the only driver of population growth as deaths exceed births.
-13,195
Natural Population Decrease (2025)
Deaths exceeded births by 13,195 in 2025 — reinforcing why Finland desperately needs sustainable labour immigration to prevent workforce contraction.
8,000
Tech Workers Retiring Annually
8,000 technology sector workers retire each year in Finland — creating a structural replacement demand independent of growth hires.
+18,000
Jobs Expected to Grow in 2026
Ministry of Economic Affairs forecasts a net increase of approximately 18,000 employed people in 2026, rising to +29,000 in 2027.
0.6%
GDP Gain from Meeting Tech Demand
ETLA estimates that meeting Finland's technology workforce demand could add 0.6% to GDP annually — a powerful case for talent investment.
50%
Workforce Needing Reskilling by 2026
Forecasts suggest 50% of Finland's workforce will require reskilling or upskilling by 2025–2026, driven by AI and green technology transitions.
36.2%
Workers in Large Enterprises (250+)
Over one-third of Finnish employees work in large companies, which represent just 0.2% of all enterprises — a highly concentrated employer base.
€294B
Green Transition Investments by 2035
Confederation of Finnish Industries reports €294 billion in planned green transition investments by 2035, requiring massive skilled workforce expansion.
Sources: Statistics Finland · Eurostat · Bank of Finland · Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) · Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM) · OECD Economic Surveys Finland 2025 · CEDEFOP · Technology Industries of Finland · ETLA Economic Research · Helsinki Times · Work in Finland · Edstellar · EVA (Finnish Business and Policy Forum)

Compiled by 9CV9 Research · All data sourced from verifiable public sources · April 2026 · For the latest hiring data, visit 9cv9.com