Cities, regions and countries have more talent than they actually realise – but it needs careful thought how to leverage existing talent assets.
Business Finland, Invest in Finland latest update of TechSkillsAtlas© proves again Finland’s prominence as a “Technology Superpower”, showing off the breadth and depth of technical skills across Finland in four key overarching disciplines: digital/ICT, engineering, healthtech & life sciences, and cleantech. There are over 394,000 individuals with strong technical ICT skills in Finland, of which 178,000 currently working in a technical ICT role and a further 216,000 in the “lapsed”” talent pool, who worked in a technical role previously. Within this lapsed talent pool, 52,000 are unemployed and seeking work.
The research, which has now been updated several times, draws on a statistically robust methodology, designed by Michel Lemagnen and further developed since 2006, over 14 countries. TechSkillsAtlas© enables countries, regions and cities to have a deeper understanding, of the range of technical skills available among the working aged population (excluding those in full-time education), providing quantitative data on the volume of skills available as well as the level of intensity/specialisation of such skills relative to the workforce as a whole. For example, nationally 14% of the workforce in Finland have technical ICT skills, 17% have engineering skills (across 61 specialisms). Sub-nationally, less populated areas, obviously,Finland: where software is a national language have fewer absolute numbers of persons but can be pockets of excellence e.g Vaasa, on Finland’s west coast, has one of the highest concentrations of engineering and cleantech professionals who are currently working in a technical role.
Whether you’re in place-based economic development, inward investment attraction or corporate executives considering location decisions, we can help. Contact Michel to schedule a call.