Wage divergence within Finland’s corporate sector continues

The inflation period of 2022–2023 reduced average real wages, but this masks substantial variation in wage developments across workers. Wage growth often depended on changes in job tasks or employer changes, where competition for labour could push wages significantly above collectively agreed increases, while a large share of employees remained at or below negotiated levels.

This divergence in wage dynamics has increased particularly since 2015 and is linked to structural changes in the labour market and intensified competition for skilled labour. Overall, real wage developments have been highly uneven: some workers have experienced clearly positive wage growth, while for many others wage growth has been modest relative to inflation. (AI translation)

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