Finland granted around 11,000 new work permit applications to foreigners last year, that's about 4,000 fewer than in 2023, and 5,000 fewer than the year before that, according to labour federation Akava.
On Wednesday the federation published a report that examined Finland's immigration figures.
The number of first-time residence permits also declined last year, it said. In 2024, Finland issued 42,200 residence permits, which reflected a decrease of more than 6,700 compared to the previous year.
"The decrease in work permits has continued for two years now," Akava expert Tomi Husa explained in a press release on Wednesday.
Broken down by sector, Husa said the biggest decline in work permit applications was seen in the social and healthcare profession.
"While 598 residence permits were granted to social and healthcare sector employees in the last quarter of 2023, the corresponding figure in the last quarter of 2024 was only 17," Husa said in the release.
Husa also noted that the number of work permits issued for specialists decreased by a quarter, or about 370 fewer permits.
IT, tech specialists
"[Workers in the] IT sector continue to receive the most work permits, a group which also saw the largest drop in the number of permits issued over the past two years. On the one hand, this is not surprising, as unemployment among university graduates in the IT and tech sectors has increased significantly," Husa said.
"Naturally, this is also reflected in the demand for foreign labour. It is also notable that the number of permits did not increase in 2024 within any of the most common specialist fields," Husa continued.
Akava (the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff) is the trade union confederation for higher education graduates.
The confederation has a goal of increasing work- and skill-based immigration in Finland, saying the number of international specialists in the country should be tripled.
Akava's chair, Maria Löfgren, suggested that one path towards that goal would be to grant permanent residence permits to foreigners who have completed university degrees in Finland.
"The 2024 data on the decrease in the number of specialists must be taken seriously. That is going in the wrong direction," Löfgren said in the release.
"We must invest in working life-oriented language and integration training so that it is available regardless of the permit process schedule. We must strengthen long-term policies to promote work- and skills-based immigration. We need concrete actions to create an open, non-discriminatory and international atmosphere. These are crucial for Finland's future growth," Löfgren continued.
The main source Akava used in its report was statistics from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), focusing on first-time residence permits. According to Akava, first-time residence permit applicants do not generally live in Finland yet, "so examining them offers a good idea about the amount of migration to Finland".
It noted that citizens of other countries in the European Economic Area or Switzerland do not require residence permits to live in Finland.
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