The construction industry will need more foreign workers in the coming years. The shortage of skilled workers is mainly due to the retirement of skilled workers and the shrinking age groups. The need is growing, especially for technologically oriented professionals and white-collar workers.
Currently, about a fifth of the construction industry's workforce comes from abroad. Foreign labor is concentrated particularly in the Uusimaa region and is mainly construction site workers. There are very few foreign white-collar workers in contracting.
Construction companies are increasingly utilizing foreign labor and are RT's skills needs assessment more receptive to foreign-speaking workforce than before.
In particular, close cooperation with construction companies, universities and other stakeholders is required to ensure that international degree students find employment in Finland. Currently, just over half of international degree students find employment in Finland.
Our goal
- The number of highly educated international experts in the construction industry is growing.
- 60 percent of international university degree students are employed in Finland in jobs corresponding to their education. The current figure is 54 percent.
- As the working-age population shrinks, we promote a model of proactive labor immigration to ensure labor availability, cf. MDI's Canadian point model.
See also
- RT news: Valuable experience for the construction industry from the EK mentoring program for international university students
- RT's blog: In just a few years, the competition for international talent will intensify
- Future Dialogue: Recruitment Paths for International Students (from the Perspective of the Company, the Educational Institution and the Student)
- Future Dialogue, RT press release: Construction industry organizations and universities work together to solve the challenges of employment for international students
- Top experts of the future (publication by RT and RIL)
Elsewhere online
- Finland's Future Makers (MDI)
- EK's Match Made in Finland mentoring program for university students
- PIKEUS project: SMEs and foreign labor in Finland – project description
- PIKEUS project: A recent report from the E2 study says: for Finnish SMEs, the availability of foreign labor is even a matter of fate
- Future Finland Makers project description (E2 Research)
- Factors of the Future of Finland: Inclusion and Cooperation in Working Life (E2 Research)
Ask more
Saku Lehtinen
Leading expert
saku.lehtinen@rt.fi +358 40 041 2057Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries (CFCI)
Highlights from current news
The Finnish Confederation of Trade Unions' mentoring program for international university students yielded good experiences for the construction industry
In just a few years, the competition for international talent will intensify
The construction industry supports international experts to integrate into Finnish working life
