The 2025 labour market survey by the Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK held no major surprises for entrepreneurs. According to the labour market survey, the median gross annual income of full-time entrepreneurs was €54,000, a decrease of €6,000 from the previous year. The average, meanwhile, had fallen from €70,000 to €58,000.
Compared to 2023, the decline is even greater, as average earnings back then stood at as much as €87,800.
The decline in annual earnings is likely due to the tightening economic climate, and hopefully the nascent signs of growth will turn the situation around.
On a positive note, the rates for invoiced days rose slightly, and the average daily rate for full-time entrepreneurs was €740.
Those who have used TEK’s services aimed at entrepreneurs are generally satisfied, but awareness of the services is low. Entrepreneurs hoped that the services would be marketed more widely.
The entrepreneurs’ newsletter provides regular updates on current issues, but it does not reach all potential users.
The most popular service was webinars, which over half of the respondents had attended. The range of webinars on offer has indeed been significantly expanded in recent years. In addition to TEK’s own webinars, trainings organised by Akavalaiset yrittäjät AKY are also available. Topics have included setting up a business, tax matters, contracts and the use of artificial intelligence in business operations.
Websites and personal advice were also popular. The top topic for personal advice was matters relating to contracts, particularly shareholder agreements.
Around three in four respondents are part-time entrepreneurs running their own business or use an invoicing service to bill for occasional work.
A quarter are full-time entrepreneurs, and of these, around half are sole traders, whilst a large proportion of the rest work in companies with 2–5 employees. In this sense, entrepreneurship at TEK is therefore very much in line with national statistics.
Entrepreneurs hope that TEK will influence, among other things, the combination of salaried employment and entrepreneurship, the facilitation of transitions between different roles, and the reform of the Entrepreneurs’ Pension Act (YEL).