Finnish forestry labour shortage

Finnish forestry companies often hire seasonal workers from abroad, particularly non-EU countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, to fill the skilled labour gap.

Photo Credit: Asset id: 2474117537

Finnish forestry labour shortage-An acute shortage of skilled workers threatens the future of the Finnish forestry sector, and Finland needs to recruit more workers from abroad to ensure its survival. That is according to a new report published on Wednesday by Tapio, a forestry management and consultancy firm.

80,000 Hours

That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
Kieran Anders Forestry

Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
Promoting safety in the workplace

It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
Glasfryn Fencing and Sawmill

Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
Keeping Timber Hauliers Safe

Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.

FIND US ON

The report states that the sector needs to recruit up to 1,000 new workers every year to compensate for the number of retirements and other factors reducing the number of skilled workers. The consultancy firm further warns that the shortage may affect not only forest management work, but also the industry’s timber harvesting and transport sectors.

Finland forestry companies often hire seasonal workers from abroad, particularly non-EU countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, to fill the skilled labour gap. Although this has provided a temporary solution to Finnish forestry labour shortage, Tapio’s report suggests that state funding should be provided for these seasonal workers to receive short-term vocational training, emphasising occupational safety and adapting to Finnish working life.

In addition, the firm notes that the requirement for fluent Finnish language skills has limited the chances of foreigners already living in Finland to land a job in the sector. Tapio, therefore, calls for more forestry-focused training courses to be provided in English.

The challenges facing Finland’s forestry industry are further exacerbated by the finding that the capacity of Finnish forests to absorb planet-warming emissions was previously overestimated. This has led to widespread calls for the industry to operate more climate-friendly, including in a recent report by the Climate Panel.

Tapio’s report was conducted in conjunction with Metsäteho, an R&D company owned by forestry sector organisations and companies, and funded by the Metsämiesten Säätiö foundation.