Record number of job openings in Finnish employment offices

Figures present a stark picture of labour shortages now and into the future

print this

The current number of job openings recorded by the Finnish employment offices is higher than that prior to the recession in the early 1990s. According to the Ministry of Labour, the average number of vacancies over the first ten months of the current year was around 33,000. The number of unoccupied positions has increased by 18,000 in six years.
      As a matter of fact, the number of openings is much higher, because only about 60 per cent of all job openings are reported to the employment offices. Consequently, for example the figures collected by Statistics Finland are higher.
     
In everyday life, the abundance of vacancies can be seen in a less positive light - as a shortage of labour. One-third of employers have experienced difficulties in finding staff, and one in five employers is suffering from a chronic labour shortfall. More employees would be urgently needed, particularly in the health and social services sector, in construction and in the metal industries, as well as in the catering business.
      Furthermore, not even expensive private nursing homes can offer care for senior citizens, as there are simply not enough employees to go around.
      In desperation, some metal enterprises in South-Western Finland have begun recruiting trips to distant countries, for example to Ukraine.
      Several other sectors could also be facing an acute shortage of labour very soon. According to the forecasts, a total of 670,000 people will leave employment by 2015, and there are not enough people of working age coming in to fill their jobs.
      In an effort to persuade as many people of working age as possible to accept jobs, the Ministry of Labour has considered certain measures.
     
In its annual report, the ministry implied that the appropriateness of job alternation leave and child care leave could be re-evaluated in the changing labour market.
      "If an acute shortage of labour emerges, a debate could arise on whether these kinds of leaves can have unintended repercussions", noted Markku Wallin, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Shortage of skilled ERC operators hampers reception of 112 calls (27.9.2006)
  Hospitals fear nurse shortage may make treatment guarantee impossible to implement (8.9.2004)
  Most public hospitals suffer acute shortage of summer substitute nurses (21.6.2004)

Links:
  Ministry of Labour

Helsingin Sanomat