Abstract Employer-based migration research has paid little attention to the formation of relationships between the state and employers, and their distinct, yet interconnected, roles in shaping highly skilled migration. This study examines how employers perceive their role in relation to the state’s interwoven promotion and regulation practices, with an emphasis on information and communication technology (ICT) sector companies in Finland. The results indicate that the slow, complex and resource-intensive regulation-related migration bureaucracy limits companies’ recruiting efforts in Finnish labour markets, thereby working against the state’s political goal to alleviate labour shortages and enhance competitiveness in the Finnish ICT sector by promoting employment from outside of Finland. Furthermore, the companies expect the state to lower the barriers and bottlenecks of the employment process and play a larger role in promoting highly skilled migration by providing, e.g. support services, easy access to information related to residence permit processes and financial backing during all phases of the employment process. We emphasize that employers’ role in relation to the state in highly skilled migration is historically path-dependent and varies in different regional politico-economic contexts.