Defence Forces

Since 1918, people in the Defence Forces have been working for a purpose.  The Defence Forces employs approximately 12 500 professionals in a working community that keeps developing and renewing itself anticipating changes in the society and the security environment.  Credible defence requires a strong capacity to perform and  competent military and civilian personnel.  A rapid change in the operating environment has resulted in an increase in specialist tasks.  

The Defence Forces is a genuinely nationwide employer; it operates in locations across Finland.  Our working environment is versatile as well; we work on land, at sea and in the air. We recruit a total of 300-400 civilians, special officers and non-commissioned officers per year.

One third of our employees are civilians and about half of them women. In civilian tasks you are expected to have the competence relevant for the job and the right attitude - military service or military service voluntary for women is not a requirement. The greatest number of civilians are employed in information technology, technology, health care, administration and public information tasks.

Our activities are based on common values, which include patriotism, professional competence, sense of justice, responsibility, trustworthiness and cooperation. We take care of our personnel by providing good exercising benefits,  investing in competence improvement and supporting efforts to help coordinate work and everyday life by offering flexible working time and distance working possibilities.  Our employees are particularly happy with their work tasks, our team spirit and their closest supervisor.

Would you like to know more about what working for the Defence Forces is like?  Learn about our versatile tasks by reading some of our career stories at the website The Finnish Defence Forces (in Finnish).