A highly educated workforce
Productivity (GDP per working person) is a lot higher in Helsinki than other usually favoured European locations.
Helsinki is consistently in the Top 10 for productivity in Europe, spending heavily on education, training and research - investment that pays dividends by delivering one of the best-educated and trained workforces in the world.
Helsinki has nine universities and ten universities of applied sciences providing research resources. In recent years, over 13 %, of higher education research funding came from foreign companies. In recent years, the trend has been towards greater autonomy for the universities, making them proactive and eager to cooperate with business.
Qualified engineers and other professionals with university degrees in various fields populate every area of business. The knowledge and skills of Finnish students in science, mathematics and reading are of the highest order and the availability of a highly educated workforce in knowledge intensive research areas is high. Costs of R&D personnel in Finland are relatively inexpensive compared to many European countries. The reason for this is mostly the generally low level of wages compared to other developed economies. (Source: ILO)
The Finnish labour market system has high trade union density and long-term collective bargaining coverage. 90 % of employees are covered by collective agreements making the work environment predictable.
The next generation of Finnish professionals, now in school, will continue to keep Helsinki at the forefront of the new economies. In secondary education, Finland ranked as the highest-performing country on the latest PISA science scale.
Educational system is suitable for international students
Finland's superb education system has given it one of the best educated workforces in the world. Tuition, books and even lunches are provided for free to students to encourage them to become skilled workers. Coupled with strong societal respect and value for education, this has made Finland's workforce one of the best suited in the world to thrive in the information age.
The education system does not just produce good employees; it also keeps them. Finland was ranked tenth in the world by the World Economic Forum for "brain drain". Once educated, workers tend to stay in Finland instead of migrating to find greener pastures abroad.
Instead of losing educated employees, Finland tends to gain them from around the world. Some companies such as Nokia have become so internationalised that they have chosen English as their official language. This raises few problems for native Finnish workers, who are required to take English during their studies.
The strength of Finland's workforce in the information technology industries has given it many advantages. The association for engineers boasts over 70,000 members. Choosing to capitalise on its strengths, Finland has consistently outperformed the rest of Europe in terms of growth and productivity in recent years.
Finland has become the base for a number of international companies taking advantage of a highly educated workforce steeped in the traditional Finnish work ethic. Although the high-tech sector is the best known globally, Finland has also managed to thrive with traditional industries such as forestry or metals. It is also investing heavily in new industries such as biofuels.
With a diverse, highly educated and productive labour market, Finland is uniquely placed to exploit its position in the world.