"Finland Needs 100,000 Foreign Workers"

According to the Finnish daily newspaper Kaleva, over the next 20 years, Finland will need a minimum of 100,000 immigrants in order to fill a labour shortage.

Rauno Vanhanen, director of the government's employment, entrepreneurship and work life policy programme (Ministry of Employment and Economy), said to the Oulu’s newspaper that another 300,000 unemployed people in Finland should be encouraged to work.

He also calls for Finns to stay at work longer into their later years, adding that productivity should moreover be improved.

Rauno Vanhanen has calculated that without foreign reinforcement, Finland's working age population will decrease by 420,000 people between 2007 and 2030.

Links:
Newspaper: Finland Needs 100,000 Foreign Workers yle.fi
300 000 työntekijää saa paikan kaleva.fi

Related articles:

A long and fit working life

"With the population ageing and the baby-boom generation starting to retire, more attention is being given to employee well-being in Finnish working life. How can employees be encouraged to stay on at work right up to pensionable age, while staying fit and active? Solutions are being found at national and workplace level. Even better, action to boost well-being at work is proving to be an investment that benefits companies and their staff." Read more on virtual.finland.fi by Salla Korpela, journalist

How about getting a job in Finland? Skilled hands needed in many fields

"Finland is bidding immigrants a warm welcome. The attractions of working in Finland include good working conditions and high employment security. Even the intriguing Finnish language poses no barrier to newcomers willing to make an effort. Last year some 22,500 people migrated to Finland." Read more on virtual.finland.fi
by Salla Korpela, journalist [Published December 2007]

Environmental Sector will create 500 000 jobs in the Nordic countries