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Few Ukrainians finding jobs in Finland

Only a small number of newly-arrived Ukrainian refugees in Finland are being hired.

Nainen työskentelee etänä kannettavalla tietokoneella.
It's unclear how many newly arrived Ukrainians have found jobs in Finland as the government says it does not keep such records. Image: Henrietta Hassinen / Yle
  • Yle News

Landing jobs in Finland hasn't been easy for newly arrived Ukrainians.

Olga Silfver, a volunteer with the Ukrainian Association of Finland, told Finnish news agency STT that she estimates that a few hundred Ukrainians, who fled their home country due to Russia's invasion, have found employment since arriving in the country.

It's unclear exactly how many newly arrived Ukrainians are working, as the Economic Affairs and Employment Ministry said it does not keep these kinds of records.

The authorities do, however, know that some 700 Ukrainians who received temporary protection in Finland have registered as jobseekers in a national employment database.

Since Russia's invasion, some 25,000 Ukrainians have sought temporary protection from Finnish immigration authority Migri. Around half of these individuals are of working age.

Earlier this month Yle reported that some Ukrainian citizens who have fled to Finland are relying on food handouts from private individuals due to delays in the processing of their temporary visas.

Finland currently has some of the lowest employment rates for foreign-born residents among countries belonging to the OECD. Around 27.5 percent of all working-age foreigners are unemployed, compared to just 7.5 percent of the native-born population.