Survey: Young Finns Are Losing Concentration, Hurting Working Life

Declining PISA results among Finnish young people are already being felt in workplaces, according to a new member survey by the Chemical Industry Federation. In the worst case, weaker skills could push companies to recruit more workers from abroad.

One-third of the 93 chief executives who responded said the skills of young employees had deteriorated. The survey examined how falling PISA performance and digitalisation are affecting young workers. Company leaders cited gaps not only in basic skills, including Finnish language skills, but also in concentration, interaction and independent working.

The problem appears most clearly in jobs reached through vocational education, which account for about half of the chemical industry’s positions. The other half of the industry’s skilled workers come from higher education. Executives said digital devices and artificial intelligence may be easy for young people to use, but can also disrupt their work.

Companies increasingly feel that some responsibility for education has shifted to them. Workplaces will effectively become schools, the federation said, and induction will require more time. If skill levels continue to fall, some companies plan to increase international recruitment and automation. Others say they would prefer to hire older workers.

The federation warned that the decline threatens industrial competitiveness and could eventually move management and product development to other countries. It estimated that Finland’s economy would be about 3 percent larger in 2060 if PISA results returned to their 2006 level by 2030, equivalent to 8.5 billion euros in today’s money. The OECD is due to publish new PISA results, focused on science, on Tuesday.