A survey published this week revealed that about half of international students studying in Finland, and about 40 percent of foreign nationals, say they are making plans to leave the country in the near future.
The finding comes as the Finnish economy faces an acute shortage of workers in many sectors, with the Finnish Research Institute Etla estimating that Finland will need to triple net migration over the coming decade.
Research director Mari Niemi — who led the project — tells APN that the survey respondents cited the difficulties in building professional networks as one of the main reasons they were considering leaving Finland.
"Everyone who lives in Finland needs to think about what kind of a neighbour am I, what kind of a colleague am I, am I in my organisation, in my position, in my networks, taking into account the international people around me, and opening doors for them," Niemi says.
Kenyan students in limbo
APN also follows up on last week's report into how Kenyan students who have been studying in Finland as part of the education export scheme face an uncertain future.
The students have had their studies suspended over the non-payment of school fees after the first semester of tuition, and even face the risk of deportation.
"School was something that was keeping them going. Right now, they just have the four walls of where they are," a member of the Kenyan community in Finland tells APN.
Election fever rises
With Finland's parliamentary elections drawing ever closer, APN looks ahead to post-election talks aimed at forming the next government — and asks which parties are too diametrically opposed on important issues for any coalition compromise to be found.
"Looking at the values, the programme of the Finns Party: opposing the European Union, opposing more people working in Finland as immigrants, we cannot agree with that. And I make it very clear," Social Democratic Party deputy leader Ville Skinnari tells the show.
Yle's election compass helps you to find the parties and candidates that share your views, while Yle News' really simple guide answers the main election questions.
Join the conversation!
This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Denise Wall. The sound engineer was Joonatan Kotila.
If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.
Would you like a roundup of the week's top stories in your inbox every Thursday? Then sign up to receive our weekly email.