The survey charted the perceptions and opinions of employees in personnel management in different companies regarding vocational education and training in Finland. Most of the respondents were in charge of recruitment decisions in their company either by themselves or with others, and all were involved in the recruitment process in some way. Main themes included, among others, perceptions of how well the competence of persons who had completed vocational education or training met the requirements of working life, how general and vocational upper secondary education are appreciated, and how well the provision of vocational education and training matched the demand of the labour market. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture and Skills Finland. Data collection was conducted by IROResearch. First, the respondents' own positive or negative attitudes towards vocational education and training were charted. Their perceptions of whether the need for vocational education and training would increase in Finland over the next few years was examined. The respondents were also asked whether they thought there would be a shortage of workers who have completed vocational education or training over the next few years. How the respondents would evaluate the quality of vocational education and training in Finland at present was charted next. Finally, the number of new employees who had completed vocational education or training recruited in the company in the past year, as well as the respondents' estimate of how many similar recruitments would be done in the present and following year, were surveyed. Background variables included the number of employees in the respondent's company, the company's industry of employment, the region (NUTS3) and type of the municipality where the company was located, the percentage of employees in the company who had vocational upper secondary qualifications, as well as the respondent's highest level of education, gender and age group.

2020