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According to Statistics Finland, the national unemployment rate was reduced to 6,4 % in February. The drop of 1,1 % during a year is a considerable improvement. Itīs a long time since Finland has exceeded the EU average of the 27 member countries, which is 7,7 %. A good result as such. We have been told that the Finnish economy is faring really well. This year our economy is estimated to increase at the rate of 2,9 %, which is still good. However, this rosy picture is not everybodyīs reality. Immigrants whose number approaches nearly three percent of the population are still far away from living in an orchard. According to the latest report by the Ministry of Labour, every fourth immigrant is jobless. In other words, their number is manifold compared to the main population. If all those participating in training courses are added to the jobless, the real figure reaches nearly 50 %. *** It has to be admitted that not all employers respond negatively towards immigrants. As far as the metropolitan area is concerned, there are a few fields in which the immigrant workforce plays an important part. For instance, one third of the bus drivers in Helsinki are immigrants. Another example is SOL Cleaning Service. Every fourth of their employees has a foreign background. In addition, one whole sector of economy, the construction field, seems to rely mainly on immigrants. But, in terms of this sector, no reliable figures exist because a large number of employees are hired-out and commute between Finland and the Baltic countries. Itīs also worth mentioning that the construction trade is a considerable factor in measuring economic growth. If we look at this more closely, we can find two key areas of operation whose contribution can be directly seen in the economic index. In both of these targets, the immigrant workforce is responsible for a lionīs share of the work contribution. The first is building the nuclear power station of Olkiluoto 3. As many as 1,800 employees of the Olkiluoto 2,700 workers are foreigners, with the biggest group from Poland. Another example is the Aker Yard shipbuilding yard in Turku where large cruisers are constructed. The yard employs at least 2,000 workers with over a half of them from the Baltic countries or Poland. These three fields including construction, nuclear power and shipbuilding, are of importance to Finland, but currently the workers employed in these fields donīt pay taxes or social security payments to Finland. In other words, this policy produces good results only in a short time span, but it wonīt save Finland in a long time span. *** At the same time there are jobless people whom employers donīt want to employ. They donīt understand that Finland has an available labour reserve. A number of employers keep repeating that they canīt employ immigrants because they donīt know the language of Agricola. Both SOL and HKL, the Helsinki City Transport, show an example of the fact that not all fields of work require an MA in the Finnish language. More than every fourth young immigrant is unemployed. There are a number of youngsters with a Somali, Russian and Iraqi background who have passed the Finnish school system. There is nothing wrong with their language skills but, despite that, they canīt have access to working life. There is just one reason - prejudiced employers. Ethnically and culturally, Finland has been a homogenous country. But now that the population is ageing quickly, the situation is about to change. The employers would have to understand we are facing a win–win situation. If immigrants were good enough to enter working life, the whole of Finland would benefit from that, in addition to employers and employees. The only necessary thing is that employers, including the public sector, would free themselves from prejudices. Integration into society takes place much more smoothly through working life. If integration takes 3-5 years in Germany, Australia, the USA or Brazil why does it have to take over ten years in Finland?  Back |
