New employment figures published on Friday by Statistics Finland show that almost 30,000 jobs in Finland disappeared between 2007 and 2012.
The data shows that there were 2.3 million jobs in Finland in 2012 – 29,200 fewer than five years previously.
Last year southwest Finland saw the highest number of job losses, with over 8,000 posts axed.
The hardest-hit sector was industry, with one in five positions being axed during the period. In total, over 76,000 industrial workers were made redundant during the five years covered by the figures. By 2012 the sector employed 321,000 people in Finland.
The heaviest industrial losses were in computing, electronics and optics manufacturing, with 14,200 posts disappearing. This was followed by the paper industry, where 7,400 jobs were cut during the five years.
However, losses in one sector were compensated to some degree by employment growth elsewhere. Over 11,000 new jobs were created in the capital region between 2007 and 2012, figures from Statistics Finland show.
The health and social care workforce grew by over 8 percent during the period, employing an extra 32,000 workers by 2012.
Finland’s largest single employment sector in 2012 was in healthcare services, with a workforce of 182,100. This was followed by education, employing 168,000 people.