# Suunto Layoffs: How to Find the Vantaa Engineers Actually at Risk

_Suunto's change negotiations put up to 118 of about 160 Finland jobs at risk. How to find its Vantaa engineers by skill, and who is really hiring them._

- Canonical URL: https://www.refolk.ai/blog/suunto-layoffs-vantaa-find-firmware-engineers
- Published: 2026-11-14
- Reading time: 9 min
- Keywords: Suunto layoffs, Suunto change negotiations Vantaa, embedded firmware engineers Finland, hire dive computer firmware engineer, wearables engineers hiring Finland

If you hire embedded firmware engineers in Finland, up to 118 of Suunto's roughly 160 remaining jobs could end in the change negotiations it opened in November 2026. The catch is that when you search "Suunto", most of the results are people who left in earlier rounds, plus Finnish words that only look like the name.

Helsingin Sanomat reported the negotiations and Yle repeated the report. They cover all of Suunto's staff in Finland except senior management, and most of the R&D and production work still left in Vantaa.

## Who is at risk in Suunto's change negotiations in Vantaa?

The people at risk are the roughly 160 staff Suunto still employs in Finland, mostly in R&D and production at the Vantaa site. Up to 118 of them could lose their jobs. If the full cut goes ahead, about 42 people remain in Finland.

Change negotiations (muutosneuvottelut) settle how many people go, on what timetable, and who is selected. The owner, Dongguan Liesheng Electronic (best known for Haylou earbuds), is moving engineering and watch production to Dongguan. The groundwork is already there: Suunto's 2024 slavery and human trafficking statement says Liesheng had set up a product development unit in China with 335 Suunto-specific full-time employees.

### This is the third cut, not the first

1. **June 2024:** 76 of just under 300 staff leave, and part of production and product development moves to China.
2. **March 2025:** another round of negotiations covers supply chain and customer satisfaction roles.
3. **2025:** Vantaa's share of total production falls to 42 percent, down from 63 percent a year earlier.
4. **November 2026:** up to 118 of about 160 remaining jobs are under negotiation.

After 2024, Vantaa kept the Ocean dive computer line, instruments, and design and quality work. So the people at risk now are the ones who stayed on that work: dive computers, instruments and compasses, design and quality. They are not the people who left in 2024.

## Why does a plain "Suunto" search return the wrong people?

Headline matches outnumber the people still working there by more than two to one. In Refolk's index of professional profiles, 370 profiles in Finland have "Suunto" in their headline, and Suunto's current Finland headcount is about 160.

| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Finland profiles with "Suunto" in headline | 370 | Refolk's index |
| Share of a 25-profile sample currently at Suunto | 9 of 25 (36%) | Refolk's index |
| Suunto's current Finland headcount | ~160 | HS via Yle |
| Headline matches vs. headcount | 2.3x | Derived |
| Strict Embedded AND Firmware tags, Finland | 10 | Refolk's index |
| Strict Embedded AND Firmware tags, Sweden | 19 | Refolk's index |

> **36%** Share of sampled "Suunto" headline profiles in Finland that still list Suunto as their current employer
>
> In Refolk's index, 9 of 25 sampled profiles were current staff. The rest were earlier leavers or keyword noise.

There are two reasons for the gap:

- **Leavers keep the brand in their headline.** About 76 people left in 2024 and more went in the 2025 round, and many still have Suunto in their headlines. A headline search can't tell "at Suunto" from "was at Suunto".
- **Finnish fuzzy matching.** "Suunta" means direction, and that root shows up in unrelated words. The sample turned up "Suunta legal and public affairs oy" and a "Suunnannäyttäjä" headline, neither of which has anything to do with watches.

So the people a "Suunto" search surfaces first are mostly people who are not at risk this time. Don't throw them away, though. Someone who left in 2024 is a good referral route into the team they left behind, because they know who is still there and what each person works on.

## Why does stacking skill tags hide the engineers you want?

Many Finnish embedded engineers never fill in skill tags, and requiring two tags makes that gap worse. In Refolk's index, requiring both Embedded Software AND Firmware returns only 10 profiles in all of Finland.

Those 10 aren't wearables people either. They work at industrial firms: Epec, Eaton, ABB, Nokia and SpinDrive. Only 1 is in Vantaa. The rest are spread across Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere and other cities. The same strict query in Sweden returns 19 profiles, and most of them sit at consultancies and industrial companies such as ALTEN, Sigma Connectivity, TATA Technologies Nordics, ASSA ABLOY and Dometic.

Treat those counts as a sign that skill tags are sparse, not as the size of the market. An AND query on self-reported, optional tags mostly tells you who keeps their profile up to date. It tells you very little about who has the expertise.

In practice, a recruiter with a dive-computer firmware req ends up with ten industrial engineers, one of them near Vantaa, and a long manual search to fill the gap. Meanwhile the negotiations keep moving and other recruiters are calling the same people.

The better approach is to describe the work and look for evidence of it wherever it shows up: a profile that says "Ocean" with no skill tags at all, a project or talk on depth sensing, or a Vantaa quality title since 2024.

## What should you search instead to hire a dive computer firmware engineer?

Search for the work Vantaa kept after 2024, using OR logic across job titles and domain terms instead of AND across skill tags. The Ocean dive line, dive algorithms and dive-instrument standards are the strongest signals.

Terms that pull in the right people:

- **"Ocean"**, the dive computer line that stayed in Vantaa after 2024
- **Dive algorithms**
- **Pressure and depth sensors**
- **EN 13319**, the European standard for diving instruments, which shows up in quality and certification work
- **Low-power BLE** and **RTOS**, the core firmware stack for any watch or wearable
- **Compass** and **instruments**, for the mechanical and calibration side
- **Design** and **quality** titles in Vantaa or the wider Helsinki area since 2024

Then use time and place to narrow it down. Someone who mentions Ocean, is based in the Helsinki area, and has held a Suunto role since before 2024 with no end date is far more likely to be at risk now than a headline match. Keyword boxes handle a three-part filter like that badly. With Refolk you can describe exactly that in plain English and get back current Vantaa staff instead of the 2024 cohort:

> **Example search:** "Find embedded firmware and dive algorithm engineers in the Helsinki area who have worked on dive computers, pressure or depth sensors, or low-power BLE wearables at Suunto since 2024." - [run it on Refolk](https://www.refolk.ai/s/74pkw91030)
>
> A ranked shortlist from LinkedIn, GitHub and the open web, with the evidence behind each match, so current Vantaa R&D staff are separated from earlier leavers.

## Is 118 the final number of Suunto layoffs?

No. 118 is the maximum, not the final number. The final number, the timetable and who gets selected all come out of the change negotiations.

Liesheng has not said which roles go to China and which go elsewhere in Europe. It also hasn't said how long the negotiations will run, or whether the dive computer work and compass making will stay in Vantaa. That uncertainty affects who you call first:

- **The rarest people may be offered a role.** If dive work stays in Finland or moves within Europe, the dive firmware and quality specialists may get an offer to stay or relocate.
- **Dongguan already has capacity.** A 335-person Suunto product development unit already exists there, so engineering work has an obvious place to go.
- **Early contact still matters.** People make their decisions while the negotiations are still running. A specialist who already has a concrete outside offer negotiates differently, whether they stay or go.

> Call the dive specialists early, but don't assume every one of them is leaving.

My rule: reach out during the negotiations with a specific role, and don't pitch it as a rescue. "I know Ocean firmware is rare, and here is a team that needs exactly that" works better than "sorry about the layoffs."

## Who is hiring wearables engineers in Finland, and who is cutting?

Oura is the clear grower, Garmin Jyväskylä is a real option with a legal complication, and Polar is restructuring too. Industrial embedded employers are the steady fallback.

| Employer | Where | Status | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oura | Oulu, Helsinki, Tampere | Growing, ~1,200 staff (2026) | Hardware and firmware work sits in Oulu |
| Garmin Jyväskylä (ex-Firstbeat) | Jyväskylä | Wearables algorithms | Counterclaims against Suunto's owner |
| Polar Electro | Kempele | Change negotiations since Feb 2026 | Not a safe landing spot |
| Epec, ABB, Eaton, Nokia | Various | Industrial embedded | Same skills, different domain |

### Oura

Oura is the obvious destination, with about 1,200 employees in 2026 and headquarters in Oulu and San Francisco. Its hardware work is real. An Oura Hardware PMO role in Oulu coordinates "cross-functional hardware teams composed of electrical, mechanical, firmware and test engineers." But Oura's Helsinki listings lean toward iOS, Android, data and full-stack roles. A Vantaa firmware engineer may need to relocate to Oulu or negotiate remote work, so raise that in the first conversation, not the third.

### Garmin Jyväskylä (formerly Firstbeat)

An older Firstbeat posting, about 3.5 years old and not a current opening, describes engineers who turn "physiological research and UX visions into embedded libraries" that run on wearable devices. That is a good match for Suunto's algorithm people. The company was co-founded by Aki Pulkkinen, and Michael Miettinen has posted that he stepped into the managing director role. The complication: Suunto sued Garmin over five patents in the Eastern District of Texas in September 2025, and Garmin Jyväskylä Oy is one of the Garmin companies bringing counterclaims that name Liesheng. That doesn't stop anyone from hiring there. It does make IP and confidentiality checks more sensitive, so plan for them.

### Polar Electro

Polar opened its own change negotiations in Finland in February 2026 to reorganise and cut costs. It competes for the same talent while it restructures, so a move there carries its own risk.

> **Firmware engineering roles open now** - [see the open roles](https://www.refolk.ai/jobs/search?q=firmware&family=engineering)
>
> Live postings whose titles mention firmware, across all locations.

## How do you pitch a Vantaa firmware engineer this month?

Lead with the specific work and be honest about location, because the growing wearables employers are in Oulu and Jyväskylä, not Vantaa. A generic "exciting wearables opportunity" message will get lost among every other recruiter's.

1. **Name the domain.** Mention Ocean, depth sensing or low-power BLE so the reader knows you found them for their work, not their logo.
2. **State the location up front.** Oulu, Jyväskylä and Kempele are all far from Vantaa. Say whether the role is relocation, hybrid or remote.
3. **Respect the process.** Don't ask about severance or who is being selected. Offer a conversation that is useful whatever the outcome.
4. **Flag IP early for Garmin.** If you represent Garmin Jyväskylä, tell candidates that IP and confidentiality checks will be careful because of the litigation. They will find out anyway.
5. **Widen to Sweden.** The strict skill-tag query returns 19 profiles there against 10 in Finland. Nordic remote roles widen your options on both sides.

## FAQ

### How many Suunto jobs are at risk in Vantaa?

Up to 118 of about 160 jobs, mostly in R&D and production, according to Helsingin Sanomat's November 2026 report, which Yle repeated. The negotiations cover all Finland staff except senior management. If the maximum cut goes ahead, about 42 people remain in Finland. The final number comes out of the change negotiations and may be lower.

### Where is Suunto's engineering work going?

Owner Dongguan Liesheng Electronic is moving engineering and watch production to Dongguan, China, where it already runs a product development unit with 335 Suunto-specific full-time employees. Liesheng has not said whether some roles will go elsewhere in Europe, or whether dive computer and compass work will stay in Vantaa.

### Is it safe to pitch Suunto engineers to Garmin?

Yes, with care. Garmin Jyväskylä Oy, the former Firstbeat team, is one of the Garmin companies bringing counterclaims that name Liesheng, after Suunto sued Garmin over five patents in September 2025. That makes IP and confidentiality checks more sensitive, but it does not stop the hire.

### Why not just search LinkedIn for "Suunto"?

In Refolk's index, 370 Finnish profiles have "Suunto" in the headline against a headcount of about 160, and only 9 of 25 sampled profiles still work there. Most results are 2024 and 2025 leavers or Finnish words like "suunta". Searching for the work (Ocean, depth sensors, low-power BLE, EN 13319) finds the people actually at risk.

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_From the Refolk blog. More posts: https://www.refolk.ai/blog/index.md_