Finland's former capital Turku is a bilingual melting pot that has had international influences for most of its 800 years. APN spent the week there to see how newer arrivals are handling their move from outside Finland.
The city's political leadership is clear that, officially at least, Turku is an open city.
"The international way of thinking and this kind of atmosphere has always been here," said Turku Mayor Minna Arve (NCP). "And I think that's why it's been so natural that in modern times when foreign communities have moved to Finland, they have found their place here."
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That's the view of the official Turku. But some new arrivals have had difficulties despite the warm words. Richy Virahsawmy moved to Finland in 2020 after decades of visiting the country.
He's a chef who has worked for the UK Prime Minister's residence, run successful restaurants in Ireland and even starred in his own TV shows. He was looking forward to spending time in the forests and training for marathons, but when he arrived in Turku he actually struggled to find work.
"I only had four responses out of 126," said Virahsawmy. "And the responses were something like 'too experienced and overqualified'. I was like, what is going on? This is crazy. I thought we'd just, you know, close up shop six weeks before COVID, sell up, emigrate to Finland and get a job."
Things were not that simple. Eventually Virahsawmy ended up working shifts on the ferries to Sweden, alongside several other businesses including a recruitment agency that finds workers who want to change countries — and move to Ireland.
"Soft landing" on offer
In 2021 the city set up a project to try and ease the transition for new arrivals. International House is a place offering advice and guidance before people arrive, and the so-called "soft landing" project has helped some 400 people since its inception, according to the city.
"I think what we're offering as a kind of basic level is, okay, come to us, have a coffee. Come and sit down. Let's talk about your situation," says Jonathon Murphy, one of the advisors on the programme.
Part of his work involves hosting coffee mornings where newcomers to Turku can taste some piispanmunkki, the iced donut native to Turku.
"Are you someone who's working here but you don't have any hobbies or friends? Are you someone who's studying here and you want to stay afterwards? Are you, like I was, a spouse and your wife has got a job here and you've quit your career in the UK and you're having an existential crisis about what you want to do next? So we can kind of be a good starting point for that. And we can think of a plan."
Part of that plan might mean retraining. We met several people who had switched careers since they moved to Finland, including one whose social science degree eventually led to a career in manufacturing.
At the Valmet Automotive plant in Salo, the workforce is especially international.
"We've been very quick to identify the talent that we can and try to promote them and give them opportunities," says Matthew Congleton, Production Director at Valmet Automotive.
"And I would say it's one of our keys to success in a very challenging labour market. So I think that Finland, like most places, is kind of struggling to find labour and talent. And for us, this has been kind of a hidden resource pool that has really paid off."
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This week's show was presented by Egan Richardson and Zena Iovino. The sound engineer was Panu Willman.
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