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Published: 16 November 2020

Fewer open job vacancies in the third quarter than one year earlier

There were 43,000 open job vacancies in the third quarter of 2020, while the figure was 48,500 one year before. Open job vacancies decreased particularly in the major region of Helsinki-Uusimaa. These data derive from Statistics Finland's statistics on open job vacancies and describe the situation on the first day of September.

Job vacancies 2019/III – 2020/III

	Year/Quarter
	2019/III		2020/III
	Number	Share, %	Number	Share, %
Job vacancies	48 500		43 000
Part-time	8 900	18	9 900	23
Fixed term	11 100	23	13 100	30
Hard-to-fill vacancies	32 300	67	23 300	54
The sub-groups are not mutually exclusive so their sum does not correspond with the total number of open job vacancies.

In the third quarter of 2020, in all, 31,200 or 72 per cent of the job vacancies were in establishments owned by private enterprises, while one year earlier the corresponding share was 81 per cent. The number of open job vacancies decreased compared with the corresponding period of the previous year in the major region of Helsinki-Uusimaa (-4,200) and in establishments with at least 10 employees. Examined by the industry of the establishment, job vacancies decreased most in the industry groups of construction (F), and trade, transportation and storage, and accommodation and food service activities (G to I). Growth was seen in the industry group of public administration, education and human health and social work activities (O to Q), where the majority of jobs were in human health and social work activities.

In the third quarter of the year, 30 per cent of all open job vacancies were fixed-term positions, while one year earlier the corresponding share was 23 per cent. The share of part-time jobs in all open job vacancies was 23 per cent, which is five percentage points more than in the same quarter one year ago. Employers estimated that 54 per cent of the open job vacancies were hard-to-fill, while the corresponding share one year earlier was 67 per cent. For example, establishments in human health and social work activities (Q) still 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 survey is answered with either a web questionnaire or 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 amount to the totals. 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, 3rd quarter. Statistics Finland.

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

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

Publication in pdf-format (257.5 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/III - 2020/III (16.11.2020)
• Appendix table 2. Job vacancies by size of the establishment 2019/III - 2020/III (16.11.2020)
• Appendix table 3. Job vacancies by employer sector of the establishment 2019/III - 2020/III (16.11.2020)
• Appendix table 4. Job vacancies by major region 2019/III - 2020/III (16.11.2020)
• Appendix table 5. Job vacancies by industry (TOL 2008) of the establishment 2019/III - 2020/III (16.11.2020)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Job vacancies by quarter (16.11.2020)
• Appendix figure 2. Job vacancies by quarter by type of employment relationship (16.11.2020)

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Updated 16.11.2020