85% large Finnish firms see immigration as prerequisite for GDP growth: OP survey

Despite high unemployment rates, up to 85 per cent of large companies operating in Finland see increasing immigration as essential for Finland's economic growth, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.

More foreign experts and employees are needed in Finland so that large companies and the Finnish economy can grow, said OP in a press release on Tuesday referring to the Survey of Large Corporations.

As many as 85 per cent of large companies operating in Finland consider increasing immigration to be essential for Finland's GDP growth. In addition, over 70 per cent of large companies believe that making it easier to recruit foreign employees would help their international competitiveness.

"As the working-age population ages and leaves the workforce, Finland's economic growth will increasingly rely on immigration. It is critical for large companies and the entire Finnish economy that the recruitment of foreign experts does not become a bottleneck to growth," said Katja Keitaanniemi, Chief Executive Officer of OP Corporate Bank.

Finland is still by far the most important recruitment area for large companies operating in Finland, and 94 per cent of companies plan to continue recruiting from within Finland in the coming years. Outside Finland, large companies plan to recruit employees especially from the EU (67%).

After the EU, the most popular recruitment regions are India (22%), Asian countries other than China (21%), and the United States (18%).

Russia is still completely excluded from the list of recruitment areas for large companies.

"International recruitment is made easier by the fact that knowledge of the Finnish language is now far from always a prerequisite for getting a job. According to the study, almost every other large company has plenty of jobs available that do not require knowledge of Finnish. A year earlier, only about a third of large companies made this assessment," Keitaanniemi said.

Large companies are still competing fiercely for talent, even though the worst talent shortage has eased in recent years. As recently as 2022, as many as 98 per cent of large companies estimated that there is fierce competition for good employees and specialists in their industry. This is now the experience of 76 per cent of companies.

According to the survey, competition for talent is exceptionally fierce in technology and telecommunications services.

"The weak economic development of recent years has temporarily reduced companies' recruitment challenges, but the long-term mismatch problem has not disappeared. The future growth conditions for companies will increasingly depend on how well Finland succeeds in attracting and retaining international talent," Keitaanniemi added.

The survey results are based on large companies executives' views on business and economic developments. A total of 155 senior executives representing 139 large Finnish corporations and large subsidiaries operating in Finland responded to the survey.

According to their latest certified financial statements, the responding companies have a combined revenue of over 248 billion euros, and they employ over 585,000 people in total.

The survey was conducted in autumn 2025. OP Pohjola carries out the Survey of Large Corporations in partnership with the Nordic Institute of Business and Society (NIBS).