Employment in Finland

There are labour shortages in some occupational sectors, particularly in the cities. It is expected that there will be a high demand in the near future for construction professionals, and social and healthcare professionals.

Job vacancies in Finland are advertised in national and local newspapers, such as Helsingin Sanomat, in the Ministry of Labour's network of employment offices, on online jobsites and the websites of Finnish companies. However, word of mouth is a common way of finding work in Finland, and many vacancies are never actually advertised. It is acceptable to make direct approaches to employers you are interested in working for.

There are employment offices in most cities and towns, which provide assistance to jobseekers at no charge. EU/EEA nationals are eligible to use their services to find work, and to register on and search the EURES jobs database. The larger offices also have EURES advisers to help EU/EEA nationals to find jobs in Finland. There are also a number of private employment agencies, whose services are free to jobseekers.

Around three quarters of all employees in Finland belong to a trade union. Under Finnish law, the maximum regular hours of work are eight hours a day or forty hours per week