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SUMMARY OF WORKFORCE
ISSUES IN THE SKI RESORT
Employment in the ski resort industry is closely linked to INDUSTRY WORKFORCE ISSUES IN TOURISM AND SKI RESORT AREAS
employment in the tourism sector. According to various
statistics and studies, the tourism industry requires International collaboration holds
an increase in both the number and expertise of its potential for solving workforce
workforce. The availability of skilled labour has, in some challenges
cases, become a hindrance to the growth of businesses.
Additionally, the tourism industry faces significant labour Based on the survey responses, it is noteworthy that there
market imbalances, where job seekers are located in dif- are no significant differences between the responses
ferent regions from the job opportunities, or the required from different countries, and none come about through
skills and qualifications for jobs do not align with those open-ended responses either. The challenges in the ski
possessed by job seekers. In the coming years, a signifi- resort industry are similar worldwide. This perception
cant portion of the workforce will retire, and the growth of was reinforced by participating in the workshops at the
the working-age population will be concentrated in major Interski 2023 event, where representatives from different
urban centres. Forecasts suggest that this demographic countries identified the same challenges as those cur-
shift may not be offset by immigration in Lapland. rently faced in Finland, and vice versa. Potential solutions
may include combining industries and working in different
“The tourism industry also faces a significant parts of the world based on staggered peak seasons.
labour market imbalance; jobs are located in
different areas from job seekers, or the skills Community and environment
of job seekers do not match the requirements as strengths – these should be
of the job. At the same time, there are many job maintained in the future!
vacancies in the industry, but also unemploy-
ment because job seekers often do not want to The ski resort industry’s strongest attraction factors
accept the jobs offered.” included the perceived pleasant work community within
the industry, the opportunity to work internationally in the
(Ministry of Economic Affairs and field, and the perception of the industry as a safe place
Employment, Industry Report 2023:3) to work. Through open-ended responses, attractiveness
factors related to the environment, such as nature and good
“The development of the working-age population employee benefits often tied to recreational opportunities,
is relatively modest on a national level, where- emerged as significant. It is essential to remember that
as in the scenario of Finland becoming more without retention, there can be no long-term attractiveness.
international, the growth of the working-age
population is reasonable. However, the challenge Younger individuals hold a more
lies in regional development. All the growth in the positive view of the ski resort industry
working-age population is concentrated in major
urban centers. Even a significant increase in The results were analyzed based on the following back-
immigration would not significantly alter the re- ground variables: the respondents’ age, gender, role in the
gional structure of the working-age population.” ski resort industry, the perceptions of supervisors and
employees, length of time in the industry, and region. It
(Labour Force Demand and Employment should be noted that the differences in results between dif-
Outlook, Centre for Economic Development, ferent groups are largely indicative due to differences in the
Transport and the Environment) number of respondents in each group. The roles in the data
are heavily weighted toward ski instructors, and the region
is mainly Finland. In many cases, there were no significant
differences in the views of different groups.
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