The global market for chemical industry has changed markedly during the past decades, and the repercussions have affected Finland in particular. The domestic market, which previously was partially closed, has now become completely open. In fact the definition of home market currently stands for the entire Europe rather than just Finland. Companies have responded to this competitive challenge by focusing on their core competencies and by aiming for a main player position in their respective areas.
Traditionally the technical efficiency of production has been high in the Finnish industry. Also, financial efficiency (use of capital) has been improving. On the other hand the labour costs and development of production, which illustrate the competitiveness of the entire labour market, have fallen behind in comparison to other countries. The development of productivity in the chemical industry is also slightly behind of the average in other national industries.

The chemical industry has succeeded in maintaining the employment of the field. In the past few years structural changes have been visible as a small decrease in the total amount of personnel only. Developing competitiveness is a challenge not only for companies but their employees as well. To a great degree this is a question of maintaining and developing competencies.