Foreign care workers in Finland are becoming harder to find as the number of new arrivals continues to fall sharply. The Finnish Immigration Service has recorded a 94 percent decline in first residence permits granted to social and healthcare professionals between January and April 2025 compared with the same period last year. Only 32 approvals were issued this year, down from 572 in early 2024.
The largest group of successful applicants in 2025 were citizens of the Philippines, who received 12 approvals. Fewer than ten permits were granted to workers from Sri Lanka. These numbers mark one of the lowest points for international recruitment in Finland’s healthcare system in several years.
This drop is happening while Finland’s public sector, especially regional wellbeing services, faces serious financial strain. The Ministry of Finance has recently warned that worsening budget conditions are affecting health and social care across multiple regions.
In 2023, Finland saw record numbers of foreign care workers arriving to fill staff shortages in elderly care and nursing homes. Since then, approvals have fallen to levels not seen since 2018. At the current rate, total positive decisions for 2025 may remain below 100.
Filipino nationals have long formed a vital part of Finland’s care workforce. Their declining presence reflects a wider slowdown in labour migration from the Philippines, a trend visible since 2024. The fall has been linked partly to Finland’s ongoing financial challenges in public healthcare, which have reduced both hiring budgets and job opportunities.
Approved residence permits for care workers have decreased across all regions of Finland. Even major cities have seen only a handful of approvals in the first quarter of 2025. The shortage is therefore not just a rural problem but a national one.
With fewer new workers coming in, pressure on existing staff is increasing. Many care homes already rely heavily on foreign-born employees, who in some areas make up as much as 10 percent of the total workforce. Employers continue to struggle to fill vacancies despite high demand for qualified staff.
Applications for work-based residence permits from Filipino nationals dropped by 40 percent in early 2025. The majority of these applicants usually work in healthcare roles, so the decline has a direct effect on the care sector.
Meanwhile, applications from other countries such as Sri Lanka, India, and Vietnam remain low. No other group has been able to offset the fall in Filipino applications. Overall, work-based immigration to Finland has dropped 19 percent compared with the same months of 2024.
The shortage of foreign care workers in Finland poses challenges for long-term planning. With an ageing population and rising demand for elderly care, fewer incoming professionals could lead to staff burnout and limited capacity in care facilities.
Experts warn that unless Finland addresses recruitment difficulties and funding gaps in its public healthcare system, the strain on existing workers may worsen, making it harder to maintain quality care across the country.
During the first four months of 2025, the Finnish Immigration Service processed 1,417 first-time worker permit decisions across all industries, approving 61 percent of them. However, the number of applications from the social and healthcare sector has fallen to the lowest level in six years, suggesting a deeper issue affecting both recruitment and retention.
The steep fall in residence permits for foreign care workers in Finland underlines how financial pressure and declining interest in migration are reshaping the country’s healthcare workforce. Without renewed support for international recruitment and improved working conditions, Finland may struggle to meet the growing needs of its ageing society.
