Finland Is Building A Historic Investment Boom – Will There Be Enough Workers?

Finland stands at the threshold of a new industrial era. Data centers are being built across the country, new factories for the battery industry are rising in the regions, and renewable energy projects are reshaping the industrial landscape. The total potential of data center investments alone in Finland is estimated at over 30 billion euros – and that is only part of the picture.

The question is no longer whether Finland wants to be a frontrunner in the green transition. The question is whether we have the people to build it.

The problem is not unemployment – it’s a skills mismatch

According to Statistics Finland, the official unemployment rate in Finland hovers around 10.5 per cent (updated: 24 March 2026). The media is talking about layoffs. Yet at the same time, industrial and construction sites are searching for skilled workers from the Philippines, Ukraine and Estonia – and sometimes they arrive directly with the client from China.

This contradiction baffles many outsiders. It should baffle all of us.

The problem is not overall unemployment, but a skills mismatch. We have unemployed people, and we have open positions– but these two don’t meet. The job is not where the person lives. The skills are not what the project requires. And in Finland, people rarely move for work more than once in a lifetime.

Almost two-thirds of employers in Finland reported difficulties finding the right competency in 2025.

What happens when 100 electricians are needed tomorrow

Every week I am in situations that illustrate this challenge very concretely. Data center construction sites have many foreign engineers, simply because Finland does not have enough expertise in building data centers. That is not a criticism of anyone – factories of this kind have never before been built in Finland on this scale.

In the battery industry, the situation is even more concrete: for certain installation tasks, there simply are not enough workers in Finland, because batteries have never before been manufactured here. The experts come from where the knowledge was developed.

There is a tasty paradox here: at the same time as Finland has record-high unemployment in certain regions, the largest projects are seeking top talent from the other side of the world.

Regionality makes the problem difficult

Finland has areas with large numbers of unemployed people. Then there are project sites that need thousands of skilled workers. These are not necessarily the same place.

I have been involved in situations where an industrial area’s neighbouring municipality has, on paper, a considerable unemployed workforce. But on closer inspection, roughly one third can be quickly employed, one third is unlikely to be hired for the available positions at all, and one third needs other forms of support. The capacity is therefore not what the numbers suggest.

On top of this: Finns do not move for work. Many will make only one move in their lives. Hardly anyone makes a second. A mortgage, the children’s school, a spouse’s job, the value of a home – all of these tie people down. This is entirely understandable, but it means that local supply cannot solve national demand.

International recruitment is not a last resort – it is a necessary part of the solution

We have been on recruitment trips to the Philippines looking for welders, installers, machinists and other tradespeople for our industrial clients. Not because domestic options were not tried first – these companies have recruited locally, trained existing employees, and covered every nearby municipality. Only after that do we enter the picture.

International recruitment does not mean seeking cheap labour. It means finding skills where they exist. For these professionals, working in Finland is attractive: overtime compensation, holidays and occupational healthcare alone are exceptional benefits. When you explain the structure of a Finnish collective agreement to Filipino job seekers, it sounds to them like an utterly inconceivable luxury.

But this is precisely Finland’s strength. We treat people well and responsibly. That should also be a recruitment advantage.

Project management resolves more than many realise

A skills shortage does not arise solely from a lack of people. It is often made worse by poor planning. When material deliveries are delayed, pipework has been designed incorrectly, or a steel structure has to be redone, the site grinds to a halt – and then far more resources are suddenly needed a lot faster.

In large, multi-year investment projects, surprises are the rule, not the exception. Geopolitical shifts, factory fires on the other side of the world, logistics disruptions – all of these ripple through to construction sites. Workforce planning designed for an ideal scenario collapses at the first unexpected twist.

There is also a Finnish cultural characteristic at play here: Finland excels at high-quality work, but the 24/7 rhythm does not come naturally to Finns. Foreign project management representatives are surprised to find that night shifts cannot simply be started at the snap of a finger.

What should be done?

I am convinced that there are solutions to this. They just require courage from different actors to think more broadly.

Projects must be resourced earlier. Workforce planning needs to begin long before a shovel digs the ground – not when the first contractor asks for the first time where to find a hundred installers next month.

International recruitment must be normalised. It is not an emergency solution or a concession. It is a normal way of acquiring skills in a globalised world – as long as it is done responsibly, lawfully and with respect for people.

Training and transitioning to a new sector in an evolving labour market. We have many people who could move into entirely new roles. This requires cooperation between companies, educational institutions and employment authorities – and time, which is not always available.

Regional mobility requires incentives. The imbalance of housing markets, regional policy and family reasons are real barriers. Addressing these is not purely a matter for the HR sector, but a question of social policy.

Finland currently has a unique opportunity. Green transition investments bring jobs, tax revenue and expertise. But they will not build themselves.

Will there be enough workers? There will – but not by accident. It requires planning, courage to look at the problem honestly, and willingness to collaborate across sectoral and organisational boundaries. At Barona, we have the tools and experience for this. But no one can do it alone.

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The author, Juho Nojonen, serves as the Director responsible for Barona’s industrial and construction business operations. Barona operates as a workforce partner in industrial investment projects in Finland, Norway and Sweden.