The competitive assets of the Finnish chemical industry are its specialized competence base and high quality in products. The intensifying competition in the international operating environment means that in the future, companies will focus their operations more and more on core competencies and migrate towards efficient use of supplier, producer and customer networks. The requisite for all activities in the chemical industry is continuous product development.

Organizations are becoming less hierarchical and ways of operating will be more broadly based on teamwork. The competence needs in all levels of chemical industry will change and grow.

The competence needs in the chemical industry and its branches were evaluated in a project organized by the European Social Fund. The results of the survey were published in October 2003. The project focused for example on the future competence and complementary training needs of 12 different professions in the chemical industry. Also, the training opportunities of the field were examined.

Competence needs in chemistry-related professions, Top 10

The shared competence needs in all chemistry-related professions:

People skills
Cooperation skills
Linguistic skills
Ability to make initiatives
Sense of responsibility
Thoroughness and exactness

In various professions the following future competence areas were emphasized:

Business and financial competence
Cross-disciplinary competence
Skills in natural sciences
Cooperation and people skills