Finland is falling behind other nations in the race to attract global talent.
That's the view of a number of immigration researchers interviewed by Yle, including Markku Sippola, a senior lecturer at the University of Helsinki.
According to Sippola, the government’s belief that Finland remains an attractive destination for foreign workers and international talent may not be accurate — and could even become detrimental.
Finland finds itself in a situation where it needs to attract foreign labour, Sippola told Yle, but the competition for skilled workers will only intensify even more in the future.
Labour shortages and ageing populations are plaguing most EU countries, but also other wealthy industrialised countries from the United States to Asia.
"It will soon become evident that Japan and China, which have never taken in many immigrants, are competing for these same Vietnamese and Filipino caregivers," he noted.
Although labour immigration has reached historically high levels in recent years, it no longer matches the peaks observed a few years ago. The surge in 2022 was mainly driven by increased Russian applications following the invasion of Ukraine and by the release of pent-up demand as Covid restrictions were eased.
Organisations in Finland have criticised proposed law changes by the Petteri Orpo-led government which are part of broader reforms that are increasing uncertainty for the immigrant community. Studies have found that this could potentially impact international specialists' perception of working in Finland.
Continued efforts to boost immigration
Finland's Minister of Employment Arto Satonen (NCP) wrote a column last week arguing that Finland remains internationally attractive and has a sufficient pool of foreign workers.
He stated that the government will promote international recruitment based on labour market needs.
However, Pasi Saukkonen, an immigration researcher at the Helsinki City Information Service, questioned this needs-based approach. He countered that the government should continue to advance work-based immigration efforts despite the temporary decline in labour demand in some sectors.
"It is disturbing to hear that we don't need to work on it because there is a recession. It does not solve the demographic problem. We should be able to work hard even in times of weakness so that we don't have to start from scratch again," Saukkonen said.
Many sectors need foreign labour
Despite the recession and climbing unemployment rate, Finland still faces labour shortages in various sectors.
For example, there is a lack of skilled tradespeople like cooks and car mechanics, while the education and early childhood sectors face significant and growing demand, and the social and health sectors are experiencing a chronic shortage of nurses.
Experts suggest that all these areas could benefit from attracting skilled workers from abroad.
However, the fact that many of the sectors facing labour shortages have strict qualification and language requirements makes it difficult to attract foreign labour. Those who come from abroad are most often employed in low-wage sectors and in jobs with low entry barriers.
According to Sippola, the criteria should be changed.
"What is important is how we accept workers who speak slightly-less-than-perfect Finnish, for example in the services or social services sector," he said.
In early summer, Finland's biggest retailer S Group published an article urging customers to get used to the fact that service will not always be available in Finnish as Finland cannot function without foreign workers.
Attracting specialists
One of Finland's biggest challenges is attracting highly educated specialists, according to Mikko Räsänen, a labour and immigration policy expert at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).
Finland is currently attracting only an average of less than a couple of thousand such specialists annually, and the number has been declining for several years.
"We are competing with other countries and within international companies. This requires having skilled professionals and making Finland an attractive place for recruitment," Räsänen said.
A positive development in the government's actions, according to Räsänen, has been the recent reduction in processing times for residence permits.
"When the need arises and recruitment from outside the EU is necessary, the processes must be fast and predictable," he added.
Limited pool of workers
Overall, the experts interviewed by Yle agreed that Finland lags behind many competitor countries in attracting work-based immigration. Until 2015, the number of work-based residence permits remained relatively steady, fluctuating significantly with demand.
"Estonia was the only EU country that consistently provided Finland with workers, particularly for the construction sector," Räsänen said.
However, interest from Estonians in working in Finland has been declining for the past decade.
According to Saukkonen, work-based immigration from outside the EU and EEA is also limited to a handful of countries.
Finland primarily targets international recruitment from its partner countries: India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brazil, which together make up a quarter of all work-based permit applicants. Saukkonen advised against relying too heavily on such a limited pool.
He further noted that, of the Indian nationals who came to Finland for work ten years ago, only half are still in the country.
"There is potential in the recent surge in work-based immigration. However, it’s hard to gauge how sustainable this development is regarding whether people will continue to come and how many will actually stay," he said.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.