Employment among newly graduated international experts has dropped by 12 percentage points between 2021 and 2025. While 77 per cent of Finnish graduates had a job waiting or lined up when they finished university in 2025, the figure for international graduates was just 51 per cent. These are the findings of this year’s Graduate Survey, which is a study conducted by Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK and Finnish universities to gauge how recent graduates in the field of technology feel about their studies and the transition to working life.
The problem is shared by a significant number of recent technology graduates, as international students account for more than one quarter of all academic engineers (diplomi-insinööri, Master of Science in Tech/Eng) and architects who graduate from Finnish universities. The percentage is even higher at, for example, LUT University.
“The biggest obstacles to finding work are poor language skills, lack of networks and a shortage of suitable positions”, says TEK’s Researcher Virve Murto.
“Finnish students accumulate a lot more relevant work experience during their studies than their international counterparts. Having a job builds networks, as does opting for an industry thesis. Based on our data, these correlate positively with finding employment after graduation”, Murto says.
More than 60 per cent of recent international graduates who had done their thesis for a company had a job waiting or lined up when they finished university. The figure was 45 per cent among graduates who had written their thesis independently. The percentage of Finnish students who had done an industry thesis was 64, while the figure was just 30 per cent among international students.
“Looking at the biggest technology universities, international graduates from LUT University have the bleakest employment prospects. Just 43 per cent of them had a job waiting or lined up at the time of graduation. Finnish graduates of LUT University do not have this problem; they actually find employment more easily than graduates of other big technology universities”, Murto says.
The big technology universities in this context are Aalto University, Tampere University, the University of Oulu and LUT University. The percentages of international graduates who had a job waiting or lined up were 57 for Aalto University, 68 for Tampere University and 57 for the University of Oulu.
More investment in students’ networking needed at universities
According to TEK’s Director of Public Affairs Juhani Nokela, there is no denying that summer jobs and collaborating with businesses on theses and dissertations make a big difference when it comes to finding employment after graduation. Networks play a particularly crucial role in identifying and landing hidden jobs.
“If we cannot improve the employment situation among our international graduates, we stand to lose a huge amount of expertise and potential. Universities need to team up with local businesses and help their students to make connections that could lead to collaboration on theses and dissertations and, depending on the industry, opportunities for practical training”, Nokela says.
Nokela also emphasises the importance of language skills and points out that language learning does not stop when university education ends.
“A two-year master’s degree programme is too short for learning enough Finnish or Swedish to then find employment. Newly graduated international experts need to be able to speak adequate English as well as knowing the basics of one of Finland’s national languages to continue building on their language skills through working in Finland.”
TEK Graduate Survey examines the views of newly graduated academic engineers (MSc in Tech/Eng) and architects on competence, experiences of studying and working, employment situation as well as their satisfaction with their degree. The survey is sent to all universities that provide technology education and it reaches practically all academic engineers and architects who graduate in Finland.