Growth ambitions among companies in North Savo

A company survey commissioned by the Talent First project (conducted between 2–28 April 2025) explored the views of companies in North Savo on skills needs, international recruitment, and factors influencing the region’s attractiveness and retention. The results were presented at a project briefing on 12 June 2025.

The study involved 190 companies from across North Savo. In their responses, the companies highlighted both challenges related to the availability of skilled labour and factors influencing recruitment processes. The results show that the availability of labour is not just a matter of quantity but also quality: challenges stem, for example, from gaps in education, attitudes, or the attractiveness of certain sectors.

One key finding was that many companies are not tapping into the potential of recruiting international talent. Cited reasons included language proficiency requirements, the specific characteristics of Finnish-language work environments, and a preference for domestic labour. However, companies that already employ international staff reported largely positive experiences.

Companies see the development of North Savo’s attractiveness and retention factors as important. The availability of services, safety, good location, and access to housing ranked among the top four factors supporting the region’s appeal. Additionally, 81% of companies consider regional network cooperation at least fairly necessary.

Growth is the goal – but labour availability poses a challenge

As many as 78% of respondents stated that their company is pursuing growth. The most important enablers of growth are seen to be access to skilled employees and a good employer image. At the same time, 64% of companies have faced at least occasional difficulties in sourcing labour. The main obstacles to recruitment are a lack of skilled labour, limited work experience, and the low attractiveness of certain sectors.

“Companies’ strong growth ambitions reflect confidence in the future, but recruitment challenges form a bottleneck for development. The role of international talent becomes especially important when the domestic labour market cannot provide the required skills,” says Marko Hietala, Customer Director at Innolink.

Recruitment needs are especially focused on operational roles such as production, warehousing, and logistics. Over half (53%) of companies are currently recruiting or planning to do so.

International talent as a partial solution to the skills shortage

According to the survey, nearly a third (28%) of companies already employ international professionals, and 14% are considering hiring international workers. Recruitment is primarily targeted at international employees already living in Finland, but 37% of respondents are also interested in hiring talent from outside the country in the future.

The main motivations for international recruitment are the skills shortage and the need for specific expertise. Experiences of how foreign employees adapt to workplace communities are mainly positive, though language skills and cultural differences can pose challenges in some cases. Support needs are particularly evident in navigating bureaucracy and developing language skills.

Talent First generates interest – awareness still needs boosting

The Talent First project is still unfamiliar to many companies – only 9% of respondents recognized the project by name, partly due to the close collaboration with project partners. However, there is interest in cooperation: 26% of companies expressed a desire for more information and follow-up contact about the opportunities offered by the project.

“The survey results confirm what we’ve been sensing in the field, but we were still surprised by the number of companies with growth ambitions and recruitment needs. It’s also very encouraging that nearly a quarter of companies expressed interest in working with Talent First. This sends us a strong signal that our work is needed and that companies in the region are ready for collaboration,” says Reetta Airaksinen, Project Manager of Talent First.

Read the Report (in Finnish)

The study is part of the Talent First project’s efforts to improve the availability of skilled labour in North Savo. The survey was carried out by Innolink and completed in May 2025. Talent First is an EU co-funded project involving 12 organisations from North Savo and administered by the City of Kuopio.