Employers in Finland need to change their attitudes when recruiting new staff, according to the country's employment minister, Tuula Haatainen (SDP).
Speaking to Yle, the minister's remarks were linked to a broader discussion in Finland about a workforce shortage many employers claim the country is facing.
Haatainen said that in order to begin addressing the problem, employers need to look at themselves in the mirror.
"Changes to recruitment practices as well as the attitudes of employers must be made," she said, specifically referring to jobseekers over the age of 50, people with foreign-sounding names and people who have shortcomings in the country's languages.
"Someone in their 50s easily has 20 years left of working life in many industries," she said, "and foreign names shouldn't have any impact at all."
On Monday, Yle News reported about people changing their foreign-sounding names to Finnish names, a move which they said helped land them jobs more easily than before.
"Review language requirements"
Leaders of many industries have called for increased labour-based immigration, but at the same time many companies remain reluctant to hire people who don't speak the local languages — chiefly Finnish — at a native level.
Haatainen said that employers need to review the level of language competence employees should be required to have.
"When recruiting, they should be discussing how to support an employee's Finnish language skills," she suggested.
Train new employees instead of rejecting them
Another common explanation for current hiring practices employers give is that applicants don't have the correct educational background or work experience within a particular sector. Haatainen said that she is often contacted by fresh graduates who cannot land jobs because of their lack of experience.
Here, too, Haatainen put the onus on employers, saying they should take more responsibility for training new hires.
"We have an excellent education system. A person who has earned a degree likely has the ability to work, but they need work experience," she said.
Haatainen noted that the government wants to increase the proportion of foreign students to remain in Finland after getting their degrees. About 50 percent of foreign students currently end up staying in the country after graduation but the new goal is 75 percent.
One tool that could be used to achieve that goal is to extend new graduates' residence permits, she said.
"That would increase the possibility of looking for work after they're done studying," the minister said.