Skilled Workforce
The need for skilled workers in a changing world and an ageing Finland must be answered by facing the challenges related to skill quality and the size of the workforce. We need investments in higher and vocational education. Immigration must also become more streamlined.
The Finnish technology industries need 130,000 new skilled workers over the next 10 years. The need for highly educated workers is constantly growing. Over 60% of job ads already expect applicants to be skilled to a third-level equivalent. Vocational skills are also needed: around 50,000 of the new skilled workers needed will need to be graduates of vocational education. Succeeding in meeting the workforce challenge not only requires action on the level of skills and the numbers of skilled workers, but also steps to strengthen the appeal of the sector. To solve the labour shortage, we also need an active immigration policy.
- Investments must be made in higher education. The number of study places on technology and ICT courses must be kept high. More students must complete their degrees in the intended time. Ensuring the high quality of education demands long-term funding.
- The quality and impact of vocational education must be improved. The skills provided by vocational education must match companies’ real needs, allowing them to boost their productivity.
- Immigration must become more streamlined. Finland will become a favourable environment for immigration. Digitalization will be used to accelerate the related procedures. Politicians should not enact policies that make labour-based immigration more difficult.
- Every worker needs a broad range of skill boosting throughout their career. The lifelong learning offering must support the development of skills for companies’ needs in a range of situations in a changing world. The forecasting of skill needs must improve, and training must be targeted at future skill needs.
- A strong mathematical skills base must be built. The skills needed in the technology industries are built on mathematical skills. New mathematical skills are based on old ones. That means that investments in mathematical skills must be begun in the early years.
- The technology sector must be presented to young people as an attractive career option. The technology sector does meaningful work to solve the world’s hardest problems. Every young person must have the chance to obtain information and gain personal experience of the technology sector.
