No statutory minimum wage – minimum pay is set in collective agreements, many of them generally binding for a whole sector. Unemployment is high, but health and social services are short of staff, from nurses and practical nurses to doctors. Find out where to look, how to apply and how to get your personal identity code, tax card and Kela card.
Finland’s clearest labour shortage is in health and social services. In June 2025 the government listed these labour shortage occupations (Decree 291/2025, valid until 11 June 2026 – we found no newer list when we checked in October 2026), in which people with a work-based residence permit could change jobs more flexibly:
EURES names health professionals and personal service workers as the groups with the most frequent shortages nationally. Building trades workers (except electricians) appear on both the shortage and the surplus list – it depends on the region. There are more jobseekers than jobs for legal, social and cultural professionals and for science and engineering professionals.
So for graduates the best chances are in health care and social services; in many other fields competition is strong and Finnish or Swedish helps a lot. In Åland, good Swedish is a must.
Key figures: Eurostat (population on 1 January 2026; unemployment and employment rates 2025; minimum wages July 2026); for the United Kingdom – Office for National Statistics; for Liechtenstein – national statistics. Country information: EURES – Living and working conditions, public employment services and the official government websites listed under each country. Rules, thresholds and amounts can change – check the official sources before you move. Updated: October 2026.
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