The Nordic countries (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland) are known for their high salaries, good working conditions, and work-life balance. Additionally, these countries have low degrees of economic inequality, high gender equality, and low rates of unemployment. All these factors make them an attractive place to work.
All’s not well though, when it comes to talent acquisition. Headhunters still face several challenges while trying to find top talent for their clients in the Nordic countries. We bring you the top five here that headhunters have to navigate.
1. Talent War
An intense talent war to get top talent hired, coupled with a skills shortage in the Nordic countries, is a big challenge for headhunters. Since the region’s demography limits the size of the local talent pool, finding suitable local candidates often becomes a difficult job.
Even when looking for international candidates, headhunters have to compete with other local and international firms vying for the same candidates, which drives up the candidates’ expectations regarding salary and other benefits. Consequently, getting the desired candidates within the fold while not overshooting the client’s budget becomes a tough job.
The lack of people with specialised skills is another factor that throws a wrench into the well-oiled machines of headhunting firms. The Nordic countries are heavily reliant on specialized skills, especially in the fields of green energy, technology, engineering, and health and social care. With rapid digital transformation and an emphasis on sustainability, the demand for highly skilled professionals in these fields has risen significantly.
For headhunters, the challenge isn’t just about finding individuals with these specialised skills but also persuading them to stay within or move to the Nordic region.
2. Cultural Considerations
For headhunting firms in the Nordic countries, finding the right candidate isn’t just about locating a professional fit. Assessing the candidate’s cultural fit for the organisation is equally essential. For headhunters, this requires understanding the role along with the culture of the organisation.
The Nordic corporate culture varies significantly from the rest of the world and may slightly differ even from one Nordic nation to another. The Nordic region lays a strong emphasis on work-life balance, egalitarianism, open and direct communication, inclusive policies, and trust in social institutions. All these aspects influence the business environment strongly and play a key role in shaping leadership styles to be more transparent, participatory, and value-driven.
Navigating the law of Jante, which has become an integral part of the Scandinavian lifestyle, and endorses humility, inclusion, and achieving a unique state of balance without greed, pride, or jealousy, is another challenge for headhunters. This is especially applicable when hiring international candidates from cultures where individual success and achievements are celebrated more than teamwork, for instance, or modesty and equality aren’t focused upon as much at the workplace.
Thus, when recruiting for organisations in the region, headhunters have to assess the candidates’ understanding and respect for the Nordic way of life and their inclination to adapt to the local corporate culture. The ability to build trust, collaborate with team members, and cultural curiosity and humility are other vital aspects to focus on. Apart from evaluating professional prowess, headhunters in Nordic countries have to focus on all these aspects when helping organisations with talent acquisition and intercultural integration within teams.
3. Candidate Passivity
Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report” found that 51% of presently employed workers were watching for or actively seeking a new job. But the problem is finding and reaching the rest 49%, who are passive candidates. Tapping into the talent pool of passive candidates is a significant problem faced by Nordic headhunters.
The Nordic nations are among the world’s wealthiest. People living in these nations enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world due to high employment, relatively small wage gaps, and high taxation along with robust social security and accessible education.
Due to the combined efforts of unions, employers, and the governments in the Nordic countries, there’s a well-developed social safety net for people who find themselves excluded from the domain of work, irrespective of the reasons. Called “the Nordic model,” it gives people the confidence to search for jobs at their own pace or even use their creativity to innovate and build products and brands, like their predecessors that have gone on to conquer the world like Ikea, Volvo, and Lego.
Due to an enhanced quality of life, secure employment, and support of the nation, most people in the Nordic countries rarely search for jobs actively. Even with the slight rise in unemployment rates recently, people in the Nordic region don’t seem much affected.
Since skilled professionals in the region are often passive candidates and have high salary expectations (thanks to their high cost of living and secure employment), enticing and retaining them is a challenge for headhunters. But their woes don’t end here.
To meet the high expectations of these passive candidates, organisations have to allocate a significant part of their budget for talent acquisition and compensation. Since not all can do this, headhunters often find themselves in a fix as they have to work on limited budgets to compete with bigger and stronger competitors trying to attract the same candidates for their open positions.
4. Immigration and Regulation
The Nordic labour market model has witnessed intra-Nordic labour mobility for long. However, the surge in migration inflows from outside the region is a more recent trend, which has created new opportunities and challenges for headhunters in the Nordic states.
From helping overcome an aging population to handling excessive pressures during seasonal periods of strong demand, immigration inflows facilitate labour force maintenance and growth in the Nordic economies. But navigating complex and time-consuming immigration laws and regulations (related to passports, and work visas and permits, for instance) can be a big issue for headhunters trying to recruit foreign candidates.
Be it helping candidates with the processing of visas and permits to ensuring organisations comply with immigration laws when hiring foreign workers, headhunting firms have to oversee a complex process related to legal requirements and compliance.
Additional costs in terms of training expenses including language training, cultural integration, training related to hygiene, health and safety, and training focused on understanding the values, rules, and norms in Nordic workplaces, can also add to the overall hiring cost. This may not be welcomed by several organisations, especially the region’s start-ups that may have stringent hiring budgets.
5. Technology and Innovation
Shortage of talent, low adoption rates of AI in businesses, and the lack of understanding of regulations related to ethical AI solutions and their use are some vital challenges faced by Nordic headhunters. The low level of AI and data competency level among organisational leaders also creates problems when finding top talent for open roles, for instance, the C-suite positions.
With an emphasis on innovation and the adoption of new technologies like AI and automation, new in-demand jobs/skills have emerged in the Nordic region. Factors like rapid digitisation, changes in product markets, cyclical fluctuations, industry structure, wages, regulation of working conditions, company production and staffing strategies, and political changes in the public sector also create a significant impact on the skill/occupational job structure of the region.
Unless headhunters stay updated on these trends, evolving skill sets, and changing recruitment demands of organisations, they won’t be able to identify and attract the right talent. Additionally, they need to adapt their talent sourcing strategies and leverage technology like data-driven search strategies and AI-powered skills assessments along with using their industry networks and online platforms like LinkedIn, GitHub, and other niche job boards to identify and reach suitable candidates more efficiently.
Final Words
The Nordic landscape of talent acquisition is evolving rapidly. Headhunters in the region have to stay on top of the changing trends and demands of organisations to help them find suitable talent. But that’s not all. They have to navigate multiple challenges as well, including an intense talent war, cultural considerations, and candidate passivity. Handling immigration and regulations, when recruiting immigrants or international candidates, and making the most of modern technology without bias are equally crucial when finding top talent for open roles.
If your organisation needs help with talent acquisition in the Nordic countries, don’t hesitate to contact us at InHunt World!
This article was written by InHunt World