Get to know us
THL employs a wide range of professionals
THL has some 1,300 employees. The majority of THL employees are professionals in medicine and health sciences and people with a degree in social sciences. We also employ experts in, for example, statistics and biological and environmental sciences, as well as a considerable number of information technology professionals. About 24% of our employees have a postgraduate degree, and around 85% have higher education degrees. Of the personnel, 72% are women and 28% are men. The average age of our employees is 47 years.
Meaningful work to defend health and well-being
According to our personnel, working at THL is meaningful, interesting, and challenging. We conduct high-quality and impactful research and specialist work. In the videos below, our employees share the kind of impact they leave on people’s health and well-being.
Development Manager Martta Forsell produces statistics used to develop child protection and social welfare services.
Senior Specialist Eeva-Sofia Haukipuro translates researchers’ needs into IT solutions so that society can access the information it requires.
Autopsy Technician Kalle Kilpiäinen investigates why and how a person has died.
Chief Physician Leif Lakoma monitors infectious diseases before they develop into epidemics.
Senior Researcher Sebastián Peña studies how societal decisions impact the health and well-being of Finns.
Senior Specialist Anneli Portman helps social and healthcare professionals recognize signs of radicalization.
University internships
We have university interns from various fields of study working with us. In the articles below, the interns share insights about their work and experiences.
Elina Korjus spent her summer working on health and well-being promotion at THL in the Monitoring team of the Department of Public Health.
A qualified physiotherapist, Korjus is currently completing a Master's degree in Health Sciences in Jyväskylä and has also studied educational sciences. She specifically wanted to do her internship at THL, as in addition to her client work expertise, she wanted to deepen her understanding of research work in the field of health sciences.
The internship was a real leap into the world of research. Korjus worked on the Healthy Finland Survey and the Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey. Her main responsibilities included reporting, updating webpages, and preparing data collections.
Both studies she worked on are recurring nationwide surveys promoting health, wellbeing and health services. The previous Healthy Finland Survey was conducted in 2022 and showed that one in four adults follows healthy lifestyles. The latest Healthy Finland Survey began in September 2024, and 64,000 adults living in Finland have been invited to participate.
The internship also provided Korjus with new perspectives, for example on teamwork.
"My summer at THL helped me to understand teamwork and organising my own work in a new way, as my previous work as a physiotherapist was largely independent. In a large-scale study, each team member has their own role, and everyone works towards a shared goal."
In addition to diverse tasks, THL's relaxed working atmosphere and friendly colleagues, Elina particularly appreciated the team development day and the employee benefits and opportunities offered by THL.
"I was positively surprised by how well recovery from work is supported at THL through sports opportunities and employee benefits."
After the internship, Korjus will complete her Master's thesis and pursue additional studies qualifying her in occupational health, aiming to deepen her expertise in work ability research. In the future, Elina sees herself conducting research on promoting work ability, coping at work and physical activity at a research institute like THL.
The internship met Elina's expectations, and she warmly recommends THL to anyone looking for an internship placement.
An internship in the nutrition team opened the door to a position as a research assistant for Sara Mäntylä.
Mäntylä is studying in the Master's Programme in Human Nutrition and Food-Related Behavior at the University of Helsinki. She worked as an intern in THL's nutrition team. During her internship, her work focused on preparing the Youth Nutrition Study, which was launched in autumn 2024.
The aim of the Youth Nutrition Study is to collect information on the eating habits of 12–18-year-olds across different parts of Finland. The results support health promotion goals and provide evidence for national and municipal decision-making.
"I collected school menus and recipes from the municipalities participating in the survey. I also prepared training materials and a portion photo booklet used in the study. Tasks that combined creativity and expertise, such as compiling the portion photo booklet, were the most inspiring for me."
THL as an organisation and the research conducted at the institute were already familiar to Mäntylä. THL experts had visited university courses as guest lecturers. In addition, she had previously worked as a research assistant in a project in which THL was also involved. Positive feedback from fellow students about THL as an internship placement also encouraged her to apply.
Her studies in food and nutrition sciences provided Mäntylä with a strong foundation for the internship themes and the confidence to contribute to research-related discussions.
"The internship gave me valuable insight into teamwork and into how each expert at THL brings their own professional background and personality to discussions, and how matters are discussed thoroughly."
From the very beginning, Mäntylä became part of the work community and participated in discussions related to the research.
"I was positively surprised by the openness and encouragement of the people working at THL. I felt that my perspective as a young expert was genuinely heard and appreciated."
Mäntylä was impressed by how well THL supports employees' well-being and pays attention to coping at work, for example by emphasising the importance of breaks and offering exercise sessions to balance work.
After the internship, Mäntylä was offered a continuation at THL as a research assistant in the same study she had worked on during her internship. This allows her to continue her studies alongside full-time work. She considers it entirely possible that her career could continue in the longer term at a research institute like THL, either as a doctoral researcher or as a researcher.
Mäntylä gained an excellent internship experience at THL, along with support and encouragement for her career – and, of course, a full-time job. For these reasons, she also recommends THL to others seeking an internship placement.
During her internship, Satu Honka gained responsibility and valuable experience in data visualisation when she contributed to visualising the situational overview of the wellbeing services counties.
Honka worked as a university intern in THL's reporting team within the Data and Analytics Unit, where she was able to make broad use of her studies while also learning new skills. She is studying to become an ICT engineer at Häme University of Applied Sciences in Forssa and has specialised in data analytics and data visualisation.
During her internship, Honka's main tool was Tableau, a software used for data visualisation.
"I didn't have previous experience with Tableau, but I had used PowerBI in my studies. That experience was very helpful when learning to use the new system."
During the summer, THL published a strategic situational overview for management on the status of the wellbeing services counties, and Honka contributed to the visualisation of the data used in the overview. The situational overview is designed particularly for the strategic level and management of the Government and the wellbeing services counties, and it primarily utilises statistics maintained by THL.
Honka felt warmly welcomed into the work community from her very first day.
"You could always ask your teammates for help if something was on your mind. The work community was relaxed, yet one where tasks were handled with care."
In the autumn, Honka will, in her own words, head off on an adventure to Seoul, South Korea, to study artificial intelligence and machine learning. She still has two years left in her ICT engineering studies and hopes to work in an expert organisation like THL in the future, particularly in the fields of data visualisation or artificial intelligence.
Satu is especially pleased with her summer as a THL intern, as she gained valuable experience in her own field and was given an appropriate level of responsibility right from the start of her internship.