In the coming decades, the number of children in Finland will decrease sharply. At the municipal level, increased immigration will not solve the challenges of future labor needs. Immigration is distributed very unevenly and the choice of residence of non-native speakers will reinforce this. For example, in Pyhäjärvi, located in the southern part of the province of Northern Ostrobothnia, the population forecast for 16 years is -25–26%, regardless of the immigration scenario.
The labor shortage can be predicted to affect the forestry sector more than other sectors, because a large part of the jobs in the forestry sector are located where the forests are – far from the growth centers. The handles of a clearing saw require hands, as do the controls of a logging machine, forwarder, and log truck. It is difficult to process wood that does not grow or does not end up in a mill into products needed by consumers.
Of those who started forestry education in 2021, 68% chose forestry as a conscious choice and reason for entering the field. For 16%, the reason is an interest in nature, for 8%, developing their own forestry expertise, for 4%, reasons related to life circumstances, and for 4%, employment and career are the main reasons for entering the field.
In autumn 2021, 37% of those who started their forestry studies lived in rural areas and 49% in cities of various sizes. 14% lived in villages and urban areas. In the increasingly fierce competition for talent, forestry must make itself an increasingly sought-after field of study in cities as well.
The challenge posed by demographic trends will particularly affect vocational education, where currently 44% of those starting vocational education come from rural areas. In higher education, the majority are already urban residents.
Forestry students experience the economic role of forests, the broad and diverse employment opportunities the sector offers, and the work done in the forest sector as meaningful. They feel they are part of a responsible influence on how Finland's forests are managed and how they will be passed on to future generations.
A good story doesn't unfold on its own, it has to be told and heard. Recruitment communications for the forest industry and its companies require doing things that haven't been done before to be successful.
Even proactive labor cooperation between states.
Ilari Pirttilä
Managing director, CEO
Foresters' Foundation
