Finnish has been rated as one of the most difficult languages to learn – and this is often cited as the biggest barrier to finding work in the country for people of foreign background.
"This is not only an issue of employment," says Johanna Kiuasmaa, international and integration coordinator for the Western Pirkanmaa Employment Region. "Insufficient language skills can prevent a person from fully integrating into Finnish society and becoming an active, equal participant."
A study published by the City of Helsinki on Tuesday confirms that perception. It pinpoints the two main obstacles to employment and societal integration by people of foreign background: a lack of sufficient skills in Finnish or Swedish – the native language of some five percent of the country’s population – and of connections with native Finns.
Some 60 percent of unemployed respondents of foreign background said that they see language skills as an obstacle to finding work. Nearly as many said that not knowing native Finns also weakens their employment opportunities.
"This is in line with previous research, but these are large proportions, especially among those with poor language skills and the unemployed," says the report's author, City of Helsinki researcher Topias Tanska.
Tampere aims to be a "welcoming city"
"Language training is not equally accessible to everyone due to legislation and practical opportunities to participate," says Mari Taverne, the City of Tampere's Service Director for international talent attraction and migration.
For this reason, she says, the city has developed language training tailored to the needs of young immigrants and international residents who move to Tampere for work.
"These Welcoming City programmes are still in the pilot stages, but we've already noticed a strong demand for them, and the feedback has been very positive," she tells Yle News.
"Tampere and other major cities also believe that funding for language training should be strengthened on the state side, considering the different groups moving to Finland, such as those coming for work, studies, and as spouses," Taverne adds.
Kiuasmaa, who works for the Western Pirkanmaa Employment Region in Sastamala, points out that the issue can be even more critical in more rural areas.
"A lack of Finnish language skills is a well-recognised barrier to employment in the West Pirkanmaa region, too – perhaps an even greater one than in the Helsinki metropolitan area, where international and multilingual workplaces are more common," she says.
The Helsinki research paper also points to individual-level challenges such as health problems and feelings of insecurity, which it found are more common among immigrants who are looking for work than those who already have jobs, all other factors being equal.
"This may indicate that unemployment itself reinforces the experience of being an outsider and weakens one's sense of wellbeing," notes Tanska. He goes on to say that this "highlights the importance of low-threshold guidance, psychosocial support and individual services in the early stages of integration".
"The answers differ significantly between those who have a job and those who are seeking a job, or are unemployed: those who are working are more optimistic," Elina Pylkkänen, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment tells Yle News.
She points to the need for different attitudes and expectations from employers.
"Even though there are prejudices, employers are able to overcome them when having experience of recruiting heterogenous people. This happens usually when there is upturn in the economy and labour scarcity, in other words, when the demand for labour increases faster than the supply," says Pylkkänen, an economist and former director of the Labour Institute for Economic Research (Labore).
Kiuasmaa agrees, calling on employers "to make it easier for foreign-language speakers to find employment by increasing their own language awareness and setting realistic, relevant language requirements for specific tasks".
"In many cases, English can serve as a working language, and Finnish or Swedish skills can continue to develop at the workplace," says Antti Kaihovaara, Chief Specialist at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Labour Migration and Integration Unit.
Kaihovaara also cites an increasing array of digital language self-study materials that have been developed in recent years, including the Kielibuusti website and the Lingvis app, which introduces immigrants to Finnish society, culture and media while learning Finnish or Swedish.
Relationship-building with Finns can be slow
Like several previous reports, the latest paper stresses the importance of beefing up language instruction for immigrants, which in turn "would also make it easier to build relationships with native Finns," which the report concedes "does not necessarily succeed quickly" in any case.
It also reiterates the widespread perception that discriminatory attitudes are a major obstacle experienced by immigrants in the labour market – but does not suggest any specific means of tackling this besides "investing in the social climate and equality in working life so that immigrants’ skills can be better utilised".
"That's understandable for someone who hasn't necessarily been in Finland for a very long time," Tanska says.
According to Tanska, it is essential to create an equal-opportunity atmosphere in working life and to support non-discriminatory practices.
Respondents who were not in employment were also four times more likely than their employed counterparts to feel that their own health status affected their employment.
"It is also important to invest in employment opportunities for the most vulnerable," Tanska adds.
Labour federation demands national language-training strategy
Meanwhile, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), which represents 18 trade unions, is demanding a national strategy for language training for work-related immigrants.
"Not enough language training is available, especially advanced language training, which is needed in the most demanding jobs," says Mikko Heinikoski, Head of Education and Employment Affairs at SAK.
According to the labour federation, work-based immigrants are often excluded from language instruction, as it is mainly offered to those who have come to Finland on humanitarian grounds.
For example, Vanessa Phekani from Malawi is in many ways the kind of immigrant that Finland needs, according to the government. On its website the government says it aims "to attract and retain international experts to come to work and build their lives" in Finland.
"It is essential that people moving to Finland from abroad feel welcome and quickly become part of the society," the government statement continues, promising to "promote factors that help retain foreign workforce" including "early childhood education and care in English and the availability of Finnish and Swedish language instruction".
In Malawi, Phekani trained as a social worker and, among other things, worked as a project manager in a UN project promoting the status and education of girls. After moving to Finland, she completed an English-language master's degree at the University of Oulu, and is now studying Finnish in a group for highly educated immigrant women, as finding a new job has been hampered by her lack of language skills.
The problem raised by SAK is also recognised by STTK, which represents white-collar workers, and Akava, which represents university graduates.
A study published last year by Super, a member association of STTK, shows that people who come to Finland through work-related immigration also need support for language training in the workplace.
"We propose that employers should be obliged to contribute to the costs of language training, for example," says Riina Nousiainen, an expert on educational policy at STTK.
According to Jutta Linna, a senior specialist in international affairs at Akava, a major challenge is regional differences in the level and availability of language training.
"In addition, there is very little language training available that is geared towards working life," she says.
In Linna's view, significantly more high-quality language training must be made available, since the need for language training is set to grow even further – especially since the government's new, stricter conditions for gaining permanent residence permits or citizenship require knowledge of Finnish or Swedish.
Language instruction pays for itself in the long run
From 2027 on, the government will allocate two million euros to the development of workplace-based language training, aiming to make language learning more closely tied to practical work situations.
"In addition, the labour market relevance of language instruction is being strengthened by consolidating funding into a single channel, which helps coordinate provision, reduce fragmentation, and better align training with employers’ needs," he explains.
That future two million euros doesn't seem like a major investment, even though Kaihovaara concedes that public funding spent on language instruction for immigrants would "most likely" pay for itself in the long run.
For instance, a 2017 Finnish study showed that participation in language instruction and other integration programmes increased participants' earnings by about 50 percent.
According to Kaihovaara, "this suggests that investments in integration and language training are economically sound, yielding returns through higher employment rates, increased tax revenues, and reduced dependency on social benefits."
