Fewer summer jobs, more jobseekers

By admin On Jul 8, 2025

Open summer jobs were available again this year for both underage applicants seeking their first job and professionals from various fields. The image shows summer 2025 job listings in Duunitori’s search engine. Photo: Duunitori

The number of summer job advertisements in Finland dropped by 11 percent this year compared to 2024, according to new data released by Duunitori.

Between November and June, the platform published around 25,000 summer job ads. This is 42 percent fewer than in 2023. The decline reflects the impact of a prolonged economic downturn on short-term employment opportunities.

Aino Salonen, communications director at Duunitori, said the figures were concerning. “It is unfortunate that economic difficulties have again reduced the number of summer jobs,” she said. “For young people, summer work is a key entry point into working life. The fall in summer job ads, though significant, was not as steep as the drop in overall job listings.”

Duunitori reported a 24 percent decrease in total job advertisements over the same period, compared to a year earlier.

Despite fewer openings, interest in summer work increased. Summer job listings on Duunitori’s site were viewed over 15 million times between November and June. That represents a 38 percent rise from the previous year.

Salonen attributed the higher traffic to the imbalance between demand and supply. “There are always far more eager applicants than there are jobs. In this market, the mismatch becomes even sharper,” she said. “Experienced and older professionals are also applying for summer jobs due to a lack of other opportunities.”

According to Duunitori’s summer job survey, each applicant applied for an average of more than ten jobs.

Salonen said job hunting remained burdensome for many. “Recruitment processes should be streamlined. This means getting rid of complex application forms, outdated CV formats, and cover letters,” she said. “At the same time, large applicant volumes strain employers, who also need to maintain a good candidate experience.”

The supply of workers still did not meet demand in all areas. “The labour market is not black and white. Even in this economic situation, certain roles, sectors, locations, and organisations struggle to find suitable staff, including in summer positions,” Salonen said.

Sectors offering the highest number of summer job postings from November to June were:

Restaurant and tourism: 3,400 posts (down 12 percent)
Sales and retail: 2,900 posts (down 18 percent)
Social and care services: 2,100 posts (down 31 percent)
Construction: 2,000 posts (down 15 percent)
Industry and technology: 1,700 posts (down 8 percent)

The order of the top five sectors remained unchanged from the previous year.

The largest drop was in the social and care sector, partly due to budget cuts in regional welfare services. Industry and technology saw the smallest decrease in job ads.

The preferences of jobseekers mirrored available roles. Duunitori’s survey found that applicants were most interested in customer service, retail, and roles in restaurant and tourism sectors.

“Young people have realistic expectations about summer jobs,” Salonen said.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi