Unemployment has increased in Finland in recent years, and unemployment among immigrants in particular has increased significantly. However, OP Pohjola's Survey of Large Corporations shows that more foreign experts and employees are needed in Finland so that large companies and the Finnish economy can grow.

As many as 85 per cent of large companies operating in Finland consider increasing immigration to be essential for Finland's GDP growth. In addition, over 70 per cent of large companies believe that making it easier to recruit foreign employees would help their international competitiveness.

"As the working-age population ages and leaves the workforce, Finland's economic growth will increasingly rely on immigration. It is critical for large companies and the entire Finnish economy that the recruitment of foreign experts does not become a bottleneck to growth," says Katja Keitaanniemi, CEO of OP Corporate Bank.

Large companies are recruiting from the EU, India and other parts of Asia – Finnish language skills are required less and less often

Finland is still by far the most important recruitment area for large companies operating in Finland, and 94 per cent of companies plan to continue recruiting from within Finland in the coming years. Outside Finland, large companies plan to recruit employees especially from the EU (67%).

After the EU, the most popular recruitment regions are India (22%), Asian countries other than China (21%), and the United States (18%). Russia is still completely excluded from the list of recruitment areas for large companies.

"International recruitment is made easier by the fact that knowledge of the Finnish language is now far from always a prerequisite for getting a job. According to the study, almost every other large company has plenty of jobs available that do not require knowledge of Finnish. A year earlier, only about a third of large companies made this assessment," Keitaanniemi says.

Competition for talent continues, even though the worst shortage has eased

Large companies are still competing fiercely for talent, even though the worst talent shortage has eased in recent years. As recently as 2022, as many as 98 per cent of large companies estimated that there is fierce competition for good employees and specialists in their industry. This is now the experience of 76 per cent of companies.

According to the Survey of Large Corporations, competition for talent is exceptionally fierce in technology and telecommunications services.

"The weak economic development of recent years has temporarily reduced companies' recruitment challenges, but the long-term mismatch problem has not disappeared. The future growth conditions for companies will increasingly depend on how well Finland succeeds in attracting and retaining international talent," Keitaanniemi emphasises.

The results are based on OP Pohjola's annual Survey of Large Corporations, which measures executives' views on business and economic developments. A total of 155 senior executives representing 139 large Finnish corporations and large subsidiaries operating in Finland responded to the survey. According to their latest certified financial statements, the responding companies have a combined revenue of over 248 billion euros, and they employ over 585,000 people in total. The survey was conducted in autumn 2025. OP Pohjola carries out the Survey of Large Corporations in partnership with the Nordic Institute of Business and Society (NIBS) think tank founded by Aalto University professors.