There are about 360,000 available job openings in Finland, but a whopping 270,000 of these are effectively hidden from public view according to the government agency Sitra.
"For the sake of the economy it would be much better for the hidden jobs to be more open," says Mikko Hyttinen of Sitra.
The difficult economy also has other negative effects. Those with jobs tend to cling on to it rather than trying a new post, reducing rotation of the workforce and keeping people in positions where they’re not at their most productive.
Ask directly
"Employers don’t necessarily need to advertise jobs, because there are enough active jobseekers asking for work directly from companies," says Perttu Kellomäki of Kokkola Employment office.
Kellomäki advises his clients to be active themselves. The minimum a jobseeker can do is apply for all the open positions that fit his profile.
"But if you really want to increase employment, you should be active and ask for work yourself," suggests Kellomäki. "To stand a better chance it pays to think wider and not get stuck on only considering positions that fit your training or experience."
Be bold
Petra Bäcklund of the Springhouse consultancy says that people need to be a little bit bolder than usual when applying for jobs.
"For a lot of people it’s a big step to admit that you’re unemployed," said Bäcklund. "But if you don’t say it, how will people know that you’re looking for a job?"
Bäcklund’s tips include checking company websites as well as job listings websites, contact interesting companies directly, be active on social media and try to create your own job around the services you can offer.
