Methodology and definitions
This page explains what each figure means, where the data comes from and what it does not cover. The "Read more" link in every stat card's info button leads here.
In short
- Data updates once a day, not in real time. Figures describe the data day, usually yesterday.
- Finnish postings come from about 58 sources: 4 job boards and about 54 employer career sites.
- We count postings, not jobs: one posting is one even if it hires several people.
- AI only classifies posting text into skills and professions. Every figure is calculated from the database.
- International data mostly means US startups, not the whole world.
Definitions
Postings
- Open postings
- Public job postings that were live on the data day. The same posting counts once even if it lists several municipalities or appears in one source several times. One posting counts as one even if it hires several people. One real job counts once even if it is on several job boards, when the copies are recognised as the same (same title, employer and municipality within a week). This is not Statistics Finland's job vacancy statistic, which is based on an employer survey.
- New postings
- Postings whose publication date, as given by the source, falls in the selected period. A posting is counted on its publication day, not on the day we collected it.
- Removed postings
- Postings last seen the previous day and no longer found in today's collection. Removal does not tell whether the job was filled.
- Net change (7 d)
- Open postings on the data day minus open postings on the same weekday 7 days earlier. It is not the number of new postings: new ones add and removed ones subtract.
- Posting duration
- Days from publication until the posting disappeared from the source, as a median over postings that closed in the month. We do not know whether the job was filled, so this is not time to fill. It is also not the official labour market tightness figure (vacancies per unemployed person).
Companies
- Companies in the Trade Register
- All companies in the PRH Trade Register on the selected day, including those in bankruptcy or liquidation. It does not tell how many companies are hiring.
- Entered bankruptcy or liquidation
- Companies whose bankruptcy or liquidation started on that day. They stay in the Trade Register, so they do not reduce the total number of companies.
- Posting rate
- Share of companies in the industry with at least one open public posting on that day. A low rate can mean the industry hires through networks, staffing agencies or internal moves.
What we read from postings
- Industry
- The advertising company's main industry in the Trade Register (TOL 2008). Industry describes the employer, not the job: staffing-agency postings appear under administrative and support services, whatever the actual work is. About a quarter of postings have no industry because the employer is not matched to the register.
- Regions and municipalities
- Location comes from the posting. A posting can name several municipalities and then appears in each, so the regions add up to slightly more than the national total. About 6% of postings have no location and appear in no regional figure.
- Language requirements
- Language level comes only from Työmarkkinatori postings, about 28% of all postings; other sources do not provide it. Shares are calculated from the postings that state a language, and the base size (n) is shown next to the figure. Working language means the language is named as the working language without a CEFR level (A1–C2).
- Most requested skills
- AI reads the posting text and tags it with skills and professions from the ESCO classification. The figure is the number of postings that mention the skill. AI only classifies; it never produces the numbers. A classification can occasionally be wrong.
- Demand
- Number of postings mentioning the skill or profession in a period, for example a week.
- Growth
- Percent change against a comparison window, for example 7 days, or 30 days vs the previous 30. The window is stated next to the figure. Growth is shown only when the base in the comparison window is above a minimum (for example at least 5 postings for professions and 50 for industries), because percentages on a small base swing wildly. Seasonal effects, such as snow clearing in autumn, show up as growth.
- Signals
- News items and register events that AI has classified as affecting the labour market, for example change negotiations, investments or bankruptcies. A signal is a lead, not a statistic, and a classification can occasionally be wrong.
Time and scope
- Data day
- The latest complete day we have collected, usually yesterday. When a page says "Data as of Sep 25, 2026", the figures describe that day. Collection runs at night, so today's postings show up tomorrow.
- Update frequency
- Finnish postings and company data update once a day, not in real time. International and macroeconomic figures update at their source's pace, some monthly or quarterly.
- International data
- Mainly job postings from US venture-backed startups (a16z and Y Combinator portfolio companies), plus named sources such as the IMF, OECD, Eurostat and Indeed Hiring Lab. It does not represent the whole world's labour market and contains no Finnish figures.
- Forecast
- A dated prediction that a skill rising in international data will rise in Finnish postings within 12 months. It counts as a hit when the target level is met three months in a row. Forecasts are never edited afterwards.
Sources and coverage
Not every source carries the same fields. The table shows what each source provides.
- Työmarkkinatori (Job Market Finland)Job board
- Title, employer, location, publication date, text, and as the only source, language requirements.
- DuunitoriJob board
- Title, employer, publication date and text. Location is missing from about 15% of postings. No language levels.
- JoblyJob board
- Title, employer, location, publication date and text. No language levels.
- KuntarekryJob board (public sector)
- Postings from municipalities and wellbeing services counties: title, employer, location, publication date and text. No language levels.
- Employer career sites (about 54)Companies' own sites
- Postings from large employers and staffing agencies (e.g. Barona, Academic Work, Adecco). Fields vary by site; publication date and location are sometimes missing.
- PRH (Trade Register)Register
- Companies, business ID, main industry (TOL 2008), bankruptcies, restructurings and liquidations.
- Posti and KuntaliittoGeography
- Postal codes, municipalities and regions that posting locations are mapped to.
- YLE, TEM and Statistics FinlandNews and releases
- Source material for signals. No posting counts.
- International sourcesComparison data
- Postings from a16z and Y Combinator portfolio companies (US startups), IMF, OECD, Eurostat and Indeed Hiring Lab. No Finnish figures.
What is not included
LinkedIn, Oikotie, Indeed and Monster are not sources. Hiring without a published posting (networks, headhunting, internal moves) does not appear in posting counts.
Known limitations
- The same job can be on several job boards. Copies are merged when the title, employer and municipality match and the postings were published within a week. Copies written differently are not always recognised, so the count can run slightly high.
- Language data comes only from Työmarkkinatori postings (about 28% of all), so language shares describe those, not the whole market.
- Industry follows the employer, so staffing-agency postings pile up under administrative and support services.
- About 6% of postings have no location, and a posting can appear in several regions.
- Large step changes in charts usually come from a new source or a method change, not the market. Collection gaps are listed on the About page.