{"id":23875,"date":"2025-05-05T13:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T10:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogit.lab.fi\/labfocus\/?p=23875"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:15:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:15:39","slug":"design-job-market-for-designers-in-finland-q1-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogit.lab.fi\/labfocus\/en\/design-job-market-for-designers-in-finland-q1-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Design job market for designers in Finland \u2013 Q1\/2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Student<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This article explores the state of the design job market in Finland during the first quarter of 2025. The goal is to support students at LAB University of Applied Sciences – as well as other design students and working professionals in Finland – in understanding the types of roles currently available, the skills employers are seeking, and how the evolving nature of design work is reflected in real-world hiring practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design is changing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Recent research in the design field shows that design is changing (e.g. Dziobczenski, 2021; Valtonen, 2020). For example, designers are working in more projects under the label of \u2018strategic design\u2019 (see Calabretta, Gemser, 2017; Dziobczenski, 2024). In short, this means that designers expand their work to not only design websites, products or services, but also apply their skill sets to design strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Steinberg funnel below represents this change when designers work in a strategic level: In traditional design projects, decisions are often limited to specific elements like colours and fonts, whereas in strategic design projects, decisions are broader and more impactful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Image 2. The Steinberg Funnel, used to explain Strategic Design by the Helsinki Design Lab. (Boyer 2020)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This change is evident in the job market: new job titles are emerging (Hello AI Designer), companies are requesting different skill sets during interviews, and job ads reflect expanded responsibilities for designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Design Job Market in Finland <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Data from 2023 and 2024 reveal a downward trend in the design job market according to\u00a0the positions posted on the Designcareer, a job board for designers in Finland (link to the Designcareer website<\/a>). The website groups positions posted in both English and Finnish across multiple career websites, such as LinkedIn, Duunitori and Oikotie.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 190 positions in 2023 (about 16\/month), falling to 108 positions in 2024 (around 9\/month). In the first quarter of 2025, signs of recovery are visible: 35 positions have been posted so far (approximately 11\/month). While this is an improvement over 2024, it still falls short of 2023 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graph
Image 3. Design positions are posted per month in the Design Career\u2019s Website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Almost 3 out of 4 positions were in-house (26 out of 35), while agencies had 9 positions. This shows a preference among employers to grow their internal design capabilities and build a in-house design team. The majority of mid-level roles account for 57% of positions (20 out of 35). Senior roles made up 31% (11 out of 35) and junior roles were just 11% (4 out of 35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product design is the most frequent job title in the sample, with Product Designer roles accounting for 8 of the 35 positions (approximately 23%). Below is the full breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n