Helsinkiruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Gaming
Supercell, Rovio, Remedy Entertainment, Housemarque, Metacore
Helsinki has one of the highest concentrations of games revenue per capita anywhere. Supercell and Rovio were both founded here, and the studios recruit internationally and operate in English by default.
Telecom & deep tech
Nokia, Elisa, IQM Quantum Computers, ICEYE, Varjo
Nokia's networks business and the research culture around it seeded an unusual deep-tech cluster — quantum computing, radar satellites and mixed reality all have serious Helsinki-region companies.
Heavy machinery & marine
KONE, Wärtsilä, Cargotec, Konecranes, Valmet
KONE is one of the world's largest elevator companies and Wärtsilä builds marine and energy power systems. Finnish industrial engineering is globally significant and quietly enormous.
Energy & chemicals
Neste, Fortum, Kemira, Borealis Finland
Neste converted itself from an oil refiner into the world's largest producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, and the transition engineering behind it is concentrated in the Helsinki region.
Software & data infrastructure
Aiven, Relex Solutions, Wolt, Smartly.io, Futurice
Helsinki's software scene is smaller than Stockholm's but weighted toward infrastructure and B2B rather than consumer, and English is the working language across essentially all of it.
Finance, retail & public sector
Nordea, OP Financial Group, Kesko, S Group, the City of Helsinki
Nordea moved its group headquarters to Helsinki in 2018, and the two big retail cooperatives dominate Finnish consumer life to a degree that surprises newcomers.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.