Business analysis
The labour market cooled – is it time for a small business to hire?
Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, released on 21 July, shows 15,000 fewer employed people in June than a year earlier and a trend unemployment rate of 10.5%. These figures do not decide whether one company should hire. They do provide a useful prompt to check whether a busy workload has become a real, fundable recruitment need.
23 July 2026 at 11:30
What do the new figures show?
There were 2,658,000 employed and 297,000 unemployed people in June. Monthly figures contain seasonal variation, and Statistics Finland notes that trend figures can be revised. The national market looks cooler, but conditions may be very different for a specific industry, region or skill.
1. Name the bottleneck before the job title
For two weeks, record work that is missed, delayed or pulls the owner away from sales and customers. The case for hiring is stronger when recurring work can be described as tasks, hours and business impact – not only as a constant feeling of being busy.
2. Calculate full cost and required extra sales
In addition to salary, budget for employer contributions, insurance, occupational health, equipment, software, onboarding and the period before full productivity. Divide the monthly full cost by the gross margin: this shows the minimum extra sales the hire needs to support.
3. Test demand with a controlled intermediate step
If workload varies, first consider a clearly scoped assignment, part-time need or fixed-term solution where there is a lawful basis. Do not disguise employment as self-employment. The purpose is to test continuity of work and onboarding capacity, not avoid employer obligations.
4. Use free employer services
In Job Market Finland’s business e-services, an employer can publish a vacancy and receive candidate suggestions. The regional employment authority offers recruitment advice, and support based on the jobseeker’s situation, training or other assistance may be available in some cases. Check the conditions before making a decision.
A 30-minute hiring test
On one page, write down the tasks, weekly hours, monthly full cost, required extra sales, onboarding owner and a date for reviewing the decision. If you cannot identify paying demand or owner time that will be released, hiring may not yet be the first solution.