What Tieteentekijät does

Tieteentekijät is a Finnish national trade union (ammattiliitto) representing university researchers, scientists, teachers, and other research and higher-education professionals. Founded in 1967 and headquartered at Rautatieläisenkatu 6, Helsinki, the union is organised as a registered association (yhdistys) and serves more than 7,000 members through 16 local member associations (jäsenyhdistykset) distributed across 12 Finnish cities, including dedicated bodies at Aalto, Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Eastern Finland, Lapland, Åbo Akademi, Hanken and Finnish universities of applied sciences. Membership is horizontal by persona, spanning early-career researchers (doctoral candidates and recently graduated PhDs), established researchers, and academic supervisors.

The union's product portfolio is service-based rather than technology-based and is centred on member representation: collective bargaining and salary guidance, legal advisory on fixed-term contracts, dismissals, harassment and discrimination, advocacy in Finnish higher-education and research-funding policy (e.g., the published Vision 2040 and parliamentary-election objectives for 2027–2031), a programme of webinars, training and biannual congresses, and a trilingual website (Finnish, Swedish, English). A core commercial element is the bundled enrolment with the OTE Työttömyomyyskassa unemployment fund, providing members with income-security insurance alongside union services. No proprietary technology platform, app, API or AI capability is offered; member-facing technology is limited to a self-serve web application at liity.tieteentekijat.fi and the e-asiointi portal.

Tieteentekijät operates as a non-profit, member-owned and member-governed body with no parent company, subsidiaries, or external institutional investors. The sole disclosed revenue stream is recurring annual membership subscription fees, billed to individuals on an annual cadence; financial statements are not publicly disclosed. Distribution combines a self-serve online join flow with direct engagement through the local-association network and shop-steward (luottamusmies) representation, supported by social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn) and earned-media activity via a dedicated press room (Uutishuone).

Name

Tieteentekijät

Legal name

Tieteentekijät

Website

https://tieteentekijoidenliitto.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Tieteentekijät is a Finnish national trade union, founded in 1967, that represents 7,000+ university researchers, scientists, and higher-education professionals across 16 local associations in 12 cities, providing collective bargaining, legal advisory, and bundled unemployment-fund membership for individual members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Trade Union Services

NAICS

Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations (81393), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Career & Employability Integration Support (Work Culture, Networking, Job Readiness) (EDAIAKAH)

Keywords

• Trade union services
• Researcher advocacy
• Collective bargaining
• Academic labor rights
• Professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Tieteentekijät generates revenue through annual membership fees paid by individual members. Members join both the union and the OTE unemployment fund (Työttömyyskassa Ote). The membership fees fund the union's advocacy, collective bargaining, legal advisory services, and member support operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tieteentekijät is a Finnish trade union that provides membership services to over 7,000 university researchers, scientists, and higher education professionals. Its core offering bundles legal advisory, salary and collective bargaining representation, professional development, advocacy for higher education policy, and access to the OTE unemployment fund. Members are supported through 16 local associations across 12 Finnish cities, a digital member portal, and an events and training program.

Product overview

Tieteentekijät is a professional trade union offering membership-based services to researchers, scientists, and higher education professionals. The organization provides a unified portfolio of services including union membership with legal and salary advisory support, advocacy and policy influence, a comprehensive resource portal for researchers' professional needs, event programming, digital member services, and a network of 16 local associations. Rather than a technology product platform, Tieteentekijät functions as a service organization delivering advocacy, member support, professional development, and networking services through its website and local association infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Jäsenyys (Membership Services)
• Edunvalvonta ja vaikuttaminen (Advocacy Services) Advocacy and policy influence services including collective bargaining agreements, parliamentary election objectives, policy statements, and published positions on higher education and research funding.
• Tieteentekijän arki (Researcher's Everyday Life) Comprehensive resource portal for researchers covering grants, scientific practices, employment advice, salary information, equality and non-discrimination, unemployment benefits, supervisor responsibilities, and international work guidance.
• Tapahtumat (Events Program) Events and webinars program including trust representative (shop steward) training, professional development workshops, career development sessions, and biannual union congress meetings for members.
• E-asiointi (E-Services) Digital self-service platform for members enabling online administrative tasks, member information updates, and membership management.
• Lähiliitto (Local Associations Network) Network of 16 local member associations across 12 Finnish cities with over 7,000 members, providing localized union representation, peer support, and direct engagement with researchers at their home institutions.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OTE TyöttömyyskassacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOTE unemployment fund is a strategic partnership where Tieteentekijät members can join both the union and the unemployment fund together. The fund provides income security and unemployment benefits to members, enhancing the overall value proposition of membership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• University and College Union (UCU): UK trade union for academics, researchers, and academic-related staff. Directly comparable in mission and member services, providing collective bargaining, legal support, and professional advocacy for higher education workers.
• National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU): Australian union for staff in higher education, research, and adult community education. Comparable in providing collective bargaining, academic workforce advocacy, and member support for researchers and academics.
• American Association of University Professors (AAUP): US national organization for university faculty, focusing on academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance. Closely aligned with Tieteentekijät's policy advocacy and protection of researcher working conditions.
• Pro (Union of Professional Engineers in Finland): Finnish trade union for engineers and professionals in technical fields. Domestic peer offering comparable union services including collective bargaining, legal advice, and unemployment insurance for salaried professionals.
• TEK (Tekniikan akateemiset): Finnish trade union representing technology, engineering, and science professionals. Closest domestic peer to Tieteentekijät as it serves a similar academic and research-oriented membership base with collective bargaining, advocacy, and professional development services.

Broad incumbents

• YTN (Ylemmät Toimihenkilöt): Finnish negotiation organization for salaried employees across multiple industries. Comparable in negotiating collective agreements and supporting higher-education-adjacent professional categories.
• Akava: Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland, of which Tieteentekijät is a member. Operates as the parent body coordinating collective bargaining and policy advocacy across affiliated professional unions.
• STTK (Finnish Confederation of Professionals): Confederation representing 17 Finnish trade unions for salaried employees, including professional and academic workers. Adjacent confederation operating in the same broader professional union ecosystem.

Regional players

• JHL (Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors): Finnish trade union for public and welfare sector workers. Same Finnish labor market and union model but focused on different sectors, illustrating the broader union ecosystem Tieteentekijät operates within.

Others

• Universities Finland (UNIFI): Cooperation body for Finnish universities, representing employer interests in collective bargaining. Functions as the counterparty in negotiations where Tieteentekijät represents academic employees.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tieteentekijoidenliitto
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tieteentekij%C3%A4t
• Instagraminstagram.com/tieteentekijat
• Xx.com/Tieteentek

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tieteentekijät