Interesting and challenging trends are visible in working life in the near future.
One of these is the transition of working life – the pace of change is so fast, especially in technology, that it is difficult to predict what kind of expertise will ultimately be hot property in the future labor market.
Another significant challenge is the talent shortage affecting Finnish companies. The shortage of workers has grown to such proportions in Finnish working life in recent years that companies say the lack of experts is already hindering company growth and business development.
Although experts are reasonably well available at the moment, the situation was completely different just 1.5 years ago. It is likely that the talent shortage will accelerate again soon as the economy recovers.
What kind of opportunities or training solutions could be created in society to alleviate the talent shortage and support Finnish business life?
The topic is shed light on by Academic Work CEO Laura Christie, who also reveals what kind of skills and qualities are needed from an employee in the changing working life. Read more below to know how every working person can prepare for these changes already.
Fast solutions are needed
The talent shortage experienced by companies has been in the news for a long time, and mostly the message has been the same – the talent shortage is the biggest obstacle to growth for Finnish companies. According to a survey by the Central Chamber of Commerce in autumn 2023, the worker shortage still limits the growth of Finnish business life. As many as 66 percent of companies say that the availability of skilled labor limits company growth and business development. No less than 59 percent of companies have a shortage of skilled labor. The numbers are striking.
According to Laura, the current situation in Finland is explained by the fact that the birth rate has been in a steep decline for over twenty years at the same time as the gap between those retiring and the smaller age groups entering working life keeps growing. We focus on talking about a talent shortage when in reality we should be talking about the fact that Finland will soon have a shortage of people.
“Public discussion revolves a lot around what kind of experts and from which countries are allowed to come here, when in fact the discussion should focus on how we could attract more people here, help them adapt as quickly as possible, and get them to stay here,” Laura explains the background of the situation.
The challenge concerns the whole society and the future of Finland, not just for example the IT industry – that is why we need flexible and fast enough solutions for reskilling and upskilling from both the employers' and employees' perspectives.
“The degree-centric nature of training slows down reskilling, and studying for a new university degree is an impossible solution for many already in working life, even from a financial perspective. Therefore, for example, support systems should also be extended to training that does not aim for a degree. Also, supplementing the skills of foreign labor must be made more flexible and faster,” Laura suggests as solutions to alleviate the talent shortage and support Finnish business life.
Reskilling is needed from everyone
A sufficiently agile opportunity for career changes and reskilling is key to curbing the growth of the talent shortage. Although Academic Work Academy offers the possibility to train for a new field in as little as 12 weeks through an accelerated learning model, different training solutions should support and complement each other in solving the talent shortage.
Continuous reskilling is necessary because few of us work in the same profession for our entire career. Laura emphasizes that the future of working life will require reskilling from everyone, and therefore it is good to keep your brain accustomed to learning new things.
“At first, the change may be taxing, but it eventually turns out to be exciting when the person reskilling or changing careers notices how new doors begin to open,” Laura reminds and continues:
“Many people who have been in working life for a longer time and are reskilling have felt that studying in adulthood has been rewarding in a different way when there is already work experience and a context to which the studies can be linked.”
In today's working life, it is never too late to head for a new career, and for many, the driving force is the gradually matured observation that the field of study chosen when younger no longer meets expectations. For others, a career change may have been held back by the thought that the time is not right or it has not been possible to take several years off to study. Additionally, a career changer may be attracted by a jump from operational work to a career path where progress is possible in a different way. Many also change fields to ensure that their own skills remain relevant in the labor market.
There are as many reasons as there are career changers, but it is certain that multidisciplinary expertise and understanding containing different combinations is almost without exception a big advantage in working life.
“For example, biology and IT can be a really interesting combination of expertise for the pharmaceutical industry, for instance. Or someone training to be a UI designer is helped if they have previously in their career been a user of the software they are now designing, and vice versa,” Laura points out.
Working life is changing, but how?
It is an indisputable fact that the skill of relearning and adapting to changes is emphasized as working life changes.
“It is good for an employee to remain positively curious and ready to adapt to external changes that cannot be influenced. In the future, you must be able to reprogram your brain quickly,” Laura describes.
When change is fast, cooperation and communication skills are emphasized as hierarchy decreases and individuals have more channels to bring their own views and expertise forward than before.
“The pace of change is also so fast, especially in technology, that it is really difficult to predict what kind of expertise will be in demand even in a year. That is why you should build your expertise diversely and stay open to change,” Laura clarifies.
In addition, it is good to remember that megatrends, such as the ecological crisis, transitions in economic systems, the growing share of technology in everything, and the aging population will affect working life already in light of skill requirements.
The common challenge of society must be solved together
Why should Finnish companies invest in reskilling employees right now?
Finland has top-class expertise in many places, but so do other countries. The more global the use of labor becomes, the more we Finnish companies must compete on the level of expertise, because we lack many other competitive factors, such as location, cost level, or population size.
“It is worth jumping on the reskilling bandwagon when you don't have to yet. Companies must create structures that help with the onboarding of people other than just fully ready top experts. There are already few of them now, and even fewer next year,” Laura reminds.
The talent shortage is a common challenge for society, and therefore it should be solved together.
“I would like to see different companies, even competitors, taking a stand on this together. This is about the future of Finnish business life and the whole of Finland. We have ways to reskill people quickly, and we must have room in Finland for others besides just Finns,” Laura calls for action.
This is the reason why Academic Work Academy has focused on reskilling career changers for a new career locally and for local needs. By offering a variety of agile training solutions, Academic Work Academy can ensure the competitiveness of Finnish business life in the future as well, so that we do not rely only on talent coming from abroad.
Read more about Academy's solutions for managing the talent shortage through recruitment training!
Sources:
Central Chamber of Commerce. Press release – Chamber of Commerce survey: Worker shortage still limits company growth – 66 percent of companies say talent shortage prevents growth and business development. Link