The business-oriented weekly magazine reports that businesses in the country recruited over a thousand software industry experts from outside the European Union between January and September, equalling the total number of experts recruited in 2016.

Finland is witnessing an unprecedented influx of software developers from abroad, according to Talouselämä.

Game studios, in particular, have been forced to recruit from abroad in the face of a shortage of skilled workers in Finland.

Finnish businesses have brought in as many as 650 software industry experts from India and fewer than a hundred from each China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Critical Force, for example, has recruited software engineers from South Korea due to the shortage of suitable applicants in Finland, Veli-Pekka Piirainen, the chief executive of the game studio based in Kajaani, tells Talouselämä.

The labour shortage is expected to remain an issue for the industry also going forward.

The Finnish Information Processing Association (TIVIA) has estimated that at least 9,000 software developers with higher education qualifications are needed urgently in Finland. The demand, it estimates, is projected to rise to 15,000 by 2020 due to, for example, some of the existing workforce retiring.

Experts recruited from non-member states do not fall within the scope of the much-criticised labour availability consideration process. Such applicants are on average granted a residence permit in 21 days, according to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

Aleksi Teivainen – HT

Photo: Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi