How the job market is turning: Anni Rautamies found work, and more jobs may soon follow

Anni Rautamies graduated as a construction engineer in December without a job. By June, she had found work with YIT at a data center construction site in Kouvola.

Her experience reflects a broader shift in Finland’s construction labor market. The employment turnaround has taken time, but the backlog of stalled demand is beginning to clear. Data centers and infrastructure projects are now pulling employment upward in the sector.

At Koria in Kouvola, YIT is building a vast data center complex for the Singaporean data center company DayOne. The main hall is already standing, and workers have moved on to interior work.

The complex is expected to house TikTok, the Chinese social media giant. The project illustrates how large technology infrastructure investments are creating jobs as the construction industry starts to recover.

HS examined which workers are likely to find employment first as the recovery gathers pace, and which groups may have to wait until later.