It is often said that Finland needs to attract more foreign talent to support its ageing population in the coming decades — but many foreigners who work as experts in the country's technology sector are concerned about the situation, according to a new survey.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they find the debate about Finland's immigration policies to be worrying. That's according to a report on a survey (PDF in English) by the Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland (TEK) and the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland.
Earlier this year, the Finnish government drew criticism over its plans regarding unemployed foreign specialists — proposing to force them out of the country after six months if they haven't landed a new job yet.
The majority of respondents in the TEK and engineers' union survey said they do not think Finland will become a better destination for immigrants in five years, with only 12 percent saying they think the Nordic country would become a better place for immigrants. Meanwhile, 14 percent said they think Finland will be better able to draw international experts in the future.
Only around half of the respondents said they would recommend people to move to Finland to live and work.
The survey received responses from more than 1,000 English-speaking technology experts in Finland. The vast majority of respondents were in permanent jobs and had lived in the country for at least a few years — some more than 20 years.
"Serious" situation
TEK and the engineers' union called the situation "serious".
"This situation is unsustainable. Finland is driving out of the country the very people who would create future economic growth here. It's pointless for decision makers to make nice statements in their speeches if the reality for foreigners in the country is uninviting," TEK's public affairs chief, Juhani Nokela, said in a press release.
Others have reported similar bad news about the situation of foreign workers in Finland, including the international Expat Insider survey.
Its ranking of countries for foreign workers found Finland plummeting from 16th out of 53 countries in 2023 to 51st place this year.
The organisers of that survey, InterNations, said that while some aspects of working life for foreigners in Finland were good — including in categories like the environment and climate as well as digital life — they faced challenges in other areas such as the ease of settling into the country, personal finances and issues like career prospects as well as salary levels and job security.
According to Maria Jauhianen, a lawyer at the engineers' union, Finland needs to attract and recruit international talent.
More than 40% cite discrimination
According to the TEK and engineers' union survey, 41 percent of male respondents and 43 percent of females said they had experienced discrimination in the job market. Examples included being told their Finnish skills were inadequate. Some respondents also said their degrees and work experience obtained from abroad were not valued in the local labour market. The survey also found that respondents from Africa and Asia experienced the most discrimination.
However, many of the respondents noted that their situation improved after they landed a job.
The survey found 54 percent of respondents saying they planned to stay in Finland permanently, citing reasons including family, the work-life balance and good quality of life. However, 31 percent said they would likely move abroad in a few years.
More needs to be done
There is still work to be done in terms of improving the situation of foreign workers in Finland, according to Jauhianen and Nokela.
"Employers should offer Finnish language instruction, which would improve successful integration in Finland. Using anonymous recruitment would also reduce unconscious discrimination," Nokela said in the release.
"Attitudes need to change," Jauhianen said, adding that the Finnish government and "all companies" need to examine their practices to reveal the obstacles in recruiting talent from abroad.
Relaxing language requirements and being more open to diversity in the workplace are key to the effort as well, she said.
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