In 2022, the number of employed people in Finland increased slightly thousand compared to the previous year. One of the current challenges has been the improvement of the labor market position of people aged over 55. The employment rate for the 55-64 age group was 71.2 percent in 2022, while the employment rate of those aged 35 to 54 was almost 86 percent. Finland has one of the highest rates of employment for women in Europe, but the employment rate for men was 0.1 percent higher than for women. Conversely, unemployment is more common among men than women in Finland, and female workers are generally better educated than their male counterparts.
The Finnish labor market is characterized by strong trade unions, as well as centralized and comprehensive policy agreements instead of local wage-bargaining models. In 2022, there were several tough labor disputes reported across business sectors. Although the number of labor disputes was on a lower level than in the previous years, the number of lost workdays peaked at nearly 963 thousand in 2022. The average work week of employees in Finland was around 36 hours. Average monthly earnings ranged between 3,400 to 4,200 euros. Even if the average earnings within all sectors have increased, the gender pay gap has remained nearly unchanged and men still earn a higher salary than women.
Based on forecasts, the unemployment rate in Finland is estimated to decrease to 6.8 percent in 2023. In May 2020, the monthly unemployment rate peaked at 10.5 percent, but dropped again to below eight percent in the following months. Even if the Finnish economy recovers rapidly from the current crisis, the unemployment rate is expected to stay at a high level in the coming years.
