Physicist, data scientist and Discovery Channel TV host Deborah Berebichez has quit the '90 Day Finn' programme, saying the programme did not keep its promises — but she and her family still plan to stay in Finland.
In a post on LinkedIn, Berebichez explained that the gap between what programme organisers Helsinki Business Hub (HBH) promised to participants and what was actually delivered was "too large and couldn’t be closed."
"Most importantly, our efforts to bridge this gap were distracting us from the goals that brought us to Helsinki in the first place: launching a tech company and achieving work-life balance," she wrote. "Morally, we didn’t feel like we could continue to promote a program that hadn’t lived up to its promise and left us with bad feelings."
Even so, Berebichez said she and her family plan to stay in Finland, describing her time in the country as "the most amazing experience".
Key promises not kept
Berebichez had been the most high-profile of the 14 participants selected to participate in the programme, which is aimed at attracting foreign expertise to Finland and improving the country's reputation as a place to work.
In its call for applications posted last November, HBH promised a smooth transition into Finnish life, including helping successful applicants with required documentation as well as housing, daycare and healthcare "arranged to suit the participants’ individual needs".
"Unfortunately, the support we expected did not materialize," Berebichez wrote in her LinkedIn post. "In reality, we found our own housing and daycare for our children; we purchased our own health insurance."
She added that the first three weeks in the country were spent correcting "mistaken information" she had received about applying for residency in Finland with the Finnish Immigration Service Migri.
Despite these problems, Berebichez said she and her family were committed to the programme and eventually began to receive some "logistical support" from HBH. However, further problems arose and the relationship with the organisers became strained.
"We began to see a pattern in our interactions with the program—a continuous struggle to address our needs," she wrote. "It seemed to us that the program was not committed to our success."
This led to Berebichez and her family deciding to quit, which she announced in a tweet on Monday morning, citing a "terribly difficult experience".
Dissatisfaction with relocation advice
HBH Business Director Johanna Huurre told Yle News that there have been "some misunderstandings" about what the programme offered to participants, but the organisers respect Berebichez's decision to leave.
"All of the participants have had their own relocation expert, helping them personally with everything they have wanted, but of course every participant also has the right to decide how much they want to use those services," Huurre said.
Berebichez confirmed to Yle News that a relocation specialist was allocated to her family, but they were dissatisfied with the services provided and much of the help was general in nature or even erroneous.
Berebichez added that she submitted a very detailed 7-page document to HBH detailing all the setbacks and troubled advice they had received from the relocation specialist. In the case of Migri for example, the wrong advice almost made the family lose the opportunity to apply for residency and stay beyond the 90 days.
HBH provided the family with a different specialist after learning of these issues, Huurre said.
Learning lessons from pilot project
Aside from promoting the country as a place to work, Huurre said that the 90 Day Finn programme is also an opportunity to learn where improvements need to be made in the immigration and integration process through the experiences of the participants.
"I think in Finland there is much we can improve, and the idea of this pilot project is that we can also learn what the participants think does work and does not work, and then we can improve for the whole society," she said, adding that there is now "a lot of will" among governmental departments, city authorities and Finnish companies to make the necessary changes and smoothen the process of work-based relocation.
Some of the 13 remaining participants in the programme have already indicated that they plan to stay on in Finland after the three months, Huurre pointed out.
"Our experience is that when people move here, they realise that it is a really great place to be," she said.
Plans for future in Finland
In her LinkedIn post, Berebichez emphasised that she is only quitting the 90 Day Finn programme and that she plans to remain in Finland.
"We love Finland, which has many positive features to offer foreigners including a safe place to live, universal healthcare, efficient public transportation system, great food, delicious tap water (I am being serious), beautiful nature and soothing quiet," she wrote.
Instead, she said she plans to develop programmes of her own in data literacy and leadership for women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.
"I intend to build programs that are attractive to both women living in Finland and also international women—women like myself who are searching for a better work-life balance than what exists in the US," Berebichez explained, adding that she wants to help Finnish society overcome the challenges faced by the working-age population gap.