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Published: 19 May 2020

As many open job vacancies in the first quarter as one year earlier

The number of open job vacancies was 63,300 in the first quarter of 2020, while the figure was 63,100 one year before. These data derive from Statistics Finland's statistics on open job vacancies and describe the situation on the first day of March, so the effects of the exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic cannot yet be seen in the number of open job vacancies.

Job vacancies 2019/I – 2020/I

	Year/Quarter
	2019/I		2020/I
	Number	Share, %	Number	Share, %
Job vacancies	63 100		63 300
Part-time	11 100	18	11 800	19
Fixed term	33 000	52	29 700	47
Hard-to-fill vacancies	27 000	43	30 600	48
The sub-groups are not mutually exclusive so their sum does not correspond with the total number of open job vacancies.

In the first quarter of 2020, in all, 43,500 or 69 per cent of the job vacancies were offered by establishments owned by private enterprises. The share was unchanged from the year before. Compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, open job vacancies increased most in the major region of Southern Finland (excl. Helsinki-Uusimaa) and decreased in the major region of Western Finland. Examined by the industry of the establishment, the number of job vacancies decreased in the industry group of public administration, education, human health and social work activities (O-Q) and increased, in turn, in the industry group of information and communication services (J), mainly in computer programming.

In the first quarter, 47 per cent of all open job vacancies were fixed-term positions, while one year earlier the corresponding share was 52 per cent. The share of fixed-term jobs is usually high in the first quarter due to the search for summer employees, for example. There were plenty of fixed-term jobs available, for example, in the industries of human health and social work activities (Q) and trade (G). Nineteen per cent of all job vacancies were part-time, which is nearly the same share as in the corresponding period of the year before. Employers estimated that 48 per cent of the open job vacancies were hard-to-fill, while the corresponding share one year earlier was 43 per cent. For example, establishments in human health and social work activities (Q) had plenty of jobs considered hard-to-fill.

Statistics Finland has been collecting data on open job vacancies quarterly since 2002. The inquiry is directed to persons responsible for recruitment in private or public sector establishments. The data provider can respond either using the web questionnaire or through a telephone interview. The data collection includes approximately 2,500 different establishments in every quarter. The statistics are based on Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The objective is to produce up-to-date and comparable information about the number and structure of job openings on the labour markets of EU Member States.

More information about open job vacancies is available in the appendix tables of this release and in the database tables of the statistics. The figures in the tables are rounded, for which reason the sums do not always match the total. The accuracy of figures and standard errors are explained in the quality description of the statistical release (only in Finnish).

Latest data on open job vacancies published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat .

Source: Job vacancy survey 2020, 1st quarter. Statistics Finland.

Inquiries: Minna Wallenius 029 551 2749, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (256.5 kB)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Job vacancies by the quarters 2019/I - 2020/I (19.5.2020)
• Appendix table 2. Job vacancies by size of the establishment 2019/I - 2020/I (19.5.2020)
• Appendix table 3. Job vacancies by employer sector of the establishment 2019/I - 2020/I (19.5.2020)
• Appendix table 4. Job vacancies by major region 2019/I - 2020/I (19.5.2020)
• Appendix table 5. Job vacancies by industry (TOL 2008) of the establishment 2019/I - 2020/I (19.5.2020)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Job vacancies by quarter (19.5.2020)
• Appendix figure 2. Job vacancies by quarter by type of employment relationship (19.5.2020)

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Updated 19.5.2020