Manpower|According to Etla’s calculation, Finland’s gross domestic product and exports would decrease significantly if the Technology Industry cannot find the workers it needs.
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Finland’s economy may shrink by more than two percent if the Technology Industry does not get the tens of thousands of new employees it needs.
According to the calculations of the business research institute Etla, the gross domestic product would decrease by 2.2 percent and exports by 4.2 percent if the workers needed for the industry and replacements for retirees are not found.
The technology industry employs 12 percent of the employed and is responsible for half of Finland’s exports, so according to Etla’s Forecasting Manager Päivi Puonni, its labor demand plays a decisive role in the vitality of the economy.
Finland the economy will shrink by even more than two percent in the next few years if the technology industry does not get tens of thousands of new employees, calculates the Finnish Research Institute (Etla).
Teknologiateollisuus ry has estimated that the skill need for the industry’s growth in the next four years is 27,500 new employees. If this need cannot be met, Finland’s gross domestic product (GDP) threatens to shrink by 1.1 percent and exports by 1.8 percent, according to calculations published by Etla on Tuesday.
According to Etla, the effects on the Finnish economy are even greater if retirees from the technology industry are included in the calculation. If, in addition to the need for skilled workers in the industry, retirements cannot be compensated, Finland’s GDP would decrease by up to 2.2 percent and total exports by 4.2 percent.
Etla Forecast Manager Päivi Puonti estimates that the availability of labor in the technology industry will play a decisive role in securing the vitality of the entire Finnish economy in the next few years.
“We have estimated how much Finland’s GDP and exports would fall if the technology industry’s estimated labor needs could be met only partially or not at all in the next four years. The effects would be significant, and the effects would hit Finnish exports particularly hard,” says Puonti in Etla’s press release.
Come on publishes a calculation commissioned by Teknologiateollisuus ry on the need for skilled workers in a situation where unemployment In Finland, it is at a record high.
According to the data published by Statistics Finland on Tuesday, the trend figure for the unemployment rate was 10.3 percent in October, i.e. the highest in at least fifteen years. According to Akava’s recent survey, the highest number of university graduates are currently unemployed in a ten-year period.
According to Etla’s assessment, the availability of highly trained labor is especially important for the growth of the technology industry’s branches.
The proportion of the highly educated workforce has increased in all the main branches of the technology industry. In the second year, the share of the highly educated workforce in the industry was around 50 percent.
In the coming years, the number of low-skilled workers is also expected to increase in the entire sector, but the share of highly-skilled workers will increase more strongly.
Technology industry according to a survey of its member companies, the industry needs 140,000 new employees in 10 years. Currently, around 330,000 people work in the industry.
CEO of the technology industry Go to Helle says that companies estimate their need for skilled workers to be slightly higher than four years ago, when the association last asked its members about it.
“This shows not only the companies’ confidence in growth, but also the fact that the need for skilled workers is not a transient, cyclical phenomenon,” says Helle, who will start as CEO of the Swedish Confederation of Business and Industry next year, in a press release.
According to the report, over the next four years, 74 percent of companies’ recruitment intentions are aimed at people with higher education. About half of the need for skilled workers is explained by growth and half by replacing retired employees.
In the opinion of the technology industry, the results of the survey support the goal of raising Finland’s education level. The organization believes that up to 70 percent of young adults in Finland should have university-level skills in 15 years.
Technology industry the industries employ about 12 percent of the employed, and the sector’s share of Finland’s value added is about 15 percent. According to Etla, half of Finland’s total exports are on the shoulders of the technology industry.
Minna Helle, the CEO of the technology industry, will start as the CEO of the Swedish Confederation of Business and Industry next spring.
Correction November 26, 2025 at 12:20 p.m.: Contrary to what was previously stated in the caption of the text, the photo is not from Metso’s factory. The picture is from the Valmet factory.