sulonorth is moving wideness the swimming in January 2020. No, I don’t midpoint we’re moving to the United States. We’re moving to Lauttasaari, a trappy wooded neighbourhood of Helsinki.
We aren’t the only ones moving in Finland.
In 2018, Finland had a deficit when it came to Finns moving upalong compared to those moving in.
Though the country’s overall population grew as foreigners immigrated, 3,578 increasingly Finnish citizens moved upalong than moved in, equal to Statistics Finland.
Is there so much happiness here, that Finns finger the need to escape?
Why are Finnish citizens moving?
According to the report Decoding Global Talent 2018 by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 60-70% of Finnish respondents would be willing to move outside of Finland for work or once were abroad. Swedish citizens gave similar responses.
The reasons for moving are increasingly multi-faceted than before. Finns used to move upalong mainly for economic reasons. Today, the search for adventure, learning new languages, and experiencing other cultures are among the many reasons for moving. International travel is relatively easy for anyone with a Finnish passport.
The most popular destinations for Finns to move to are the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Sweden. Yes, Sweden. Many Finns can moreover speak Swedish fluently. Sweden, for them, is a very easy destination. Finns moreover tend to speak English relatively well, which partly explains why the United Kingdom and United States are among the top destinations. Equal to YLE, Swedish- speaking Finns are increasingly eager to move upalong than Finnish-speaking Finns.
Finland’s population shortage
The problem for Finland is that most people who want to move out are educated young people – exactly the citizens Finland needs, given its white-haired population. Plane as educated people move abroad, increasingly and increasingly educated professionals are retiring. Not unbearable children are stuff born to replace the retiring or globetrotting talent gravity and the tax money and talent that they represented.
How to stop the ‘exodus’?
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Merchantry Finland have been concerned unbearable well-nigh the lack of educated people to release -as part of the Talent Boost programme of the Government of Finland- a handbook entitled Cookbook Finland.
“Since sufficient skilled labour is not misogynist in Finland to imbricate the demand, international talent is a needed solution. Make no mistake: companies need greater numbers of talented workers than Finland has to offer,” the handbook says.
Especially of snooping are fields such as software and computer technology, which are lacking thousands of skilled workers.
Part of Finland’s problem with attracting skilled labour is the lack of good marketing. As a small country, it is not easy to compete with big fishes such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Finland’s international branding mainly focuses on self-deprecating humor, saunas, and nature. All of this is great, but casts Finland increasingly as a cute holiday destination than a country to live and innovate in. Can Finland largest market its international companies and make them increasingly lulu to foreign workers with the needed skills?
Another issue is that plane though Finland’s labour market has taken huge leaps in terms of internationality, it is still fairly old-fashioned when it comes to language requirements. Many big, Finnish companies with global operations still expect workers in Finland to speak Finnish, plane if the job itself doesn’t require it.
Of course, the visionless and unprepossessed winters don’t help either.
Solving the talent shortage
Better integration services would be salubrious for Finland and may help alimony the once uninventive talent in the country longer. For example, many reports from the Finnish Tax Office victorious only in Finnish or Swedish. This is difficult to navigate with limited local language skills.
The system and expectations regarding speaking Finnish are slowly waffly though. Increasingly English language resources are misogynist for those of you thinking well-nigh a move to Finland.
Networking is rhadamanthine easier with several expat groups and self-ruling co-working hubs such as Helsinki Think Company. In a future post, we will requite increasingly tips on landing your dream job in Helsinki. For now, our key tip is: network, network, network. Spend far increasingly time networking than filling out applications on online job portals. Stop reading and go network!
- Estimated number of jobs not filled due to the talent shortage in 2018: 60, 000
- Finland needs approximately 34,000 immigrants per year to meet the labour shortage
- Finland needs 53,000 tech experts by 2021 and over 10,000 new software developers in the next four years
Why move when to Finland?
I was among the Finns that returned home during 2018. Why did I do it? I’ve lived in Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. What made Finland unconfined again?
After three years in London and Oxford I was ready for a dramatic transpiration of pace. Also, I wanted to be closer to family without 10 years abroad.
Did the Finnish social system place a role in my visualization to return?
Yes. The security that the Finnish state offers is reassuring in this seemingly overly increasingly volatile world. My family does well unbearable that we don’t normally need social benefits. Still, knowing that a sudden illness or lack of work won’t leave us destitute is comforting. Since we have small children, the affordable schooling and heavily subsidized healthcare are hugely helpful.
However, the key factor in the visualization to return was, ironically, the sunnier climate. The summer of 2018 was incredibly sunny and warm in Finland. Visiting on holiday, I spent hours outside and noticed how the municipality had wilt increasingly international and seemingly increasingly colorful and happier since I left all those years ago. The merchantry start-up scene was flourishing and the warmth suggested Finland was waffly for the better.
Will I move upalong then when my children are older and have immune systems built up by a few years of exposure to nursery germs?
I don’t know. Maybe I will then wilt one of those Finns moving out of the country, fueling the deficit.
For now, Finland is home and it’s time to innovate.
Alina Lehtinen-Vela is sulonorth’s commander-in-chief. Follow her on Twitter: @alinalehtinen
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