Situation and Outlook of the Finnish Technology Industry 2/2015: New orders wane again

The turnover of companies in the technology industries in Finland totalled slightly over EUR 66 billion in 2014. This represents a growth of some two per cent from the previous year. However, the figure falls significantly short of the levels recorded in 2008 when the corresponding figure was close to EUR 86 billion.

Technology industry companies received slightly decreased levels of new orders between January and March. However, order books have strengthened from the previous year, due in particular to the previously received ship orders. Even so, order books did not quite reach the level reported in December. 

- The situation is sensitive: new orders declined in early 2015, but on the other hand, calls for tenders picked up, says Jorma Turunen, CEO at the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries.           

The member companies of the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries reported that the monetary value of new orders between January and March was nine per cent lower than in the corresponding period in 2014, and 14 per cent lower than in the preceding quarter. Of the respondents, 55 per cent said the number of new orders was down from October–December, 40 per cent said it was up and five per cent said it had remained stable.

At the end of March, the value of order books was up 15 per cent from the corresponding period last year, but slightly below the value reported at the end of December. Forty-nine per cent of companies reported an increase in the level of order books from December, while 41 per cent reported a drop and 10 per cent had seen no change.

- Judging from order trends in recent months, the turnover of technology industry companies is expected to be slightly higher in the spring of 2015 than in the corresponding period last year, says Turunen. 

Early 2015 sees 7,000 new recruitments

In 2014, the number of personnel employed by technology industry companies in Finland decreased by more than three per cent, or almost 10,000 employees. On average, the industry employed 276,000 people in 2014. At the end of March, the number of personnel was down by some 3,000 from that.

Despite the reductions, technology industry companies recruited a total of 20,000 new employees last year. A total of 7,000 new recruitments took place in January–March. Some companies were increasing their personnel, while others were hiring new employees due to retirements and employee turnover.  

We need to restore faith in Finland as a good business environment

It is vital for the future of Finland as well as the employment of its citizens and the funding of the welfare state that investments pick up again.

- Things can be simplified by deregulation. The focus must be on growth, competence and renewal. Finland needs to harness the power of digitalisation to take a productivity leap. In wage negotiations, it should be remembered that we cannot afford general increases, says CEO Jorma Turunen, listing a few ways of restoring faith in Finland as a good business environment.

Further information:       
Jorma Turunen, CEO, tel. +358 500 445 444
Jukka Palokangas, Chief Economist, tel. +358 40 750 5469
firstname.lastname@techind.fi

Economic situation and outlook of Finnish technology industry 2/2015 (pdf)