In the City of Helsinki, 15,7% of residents speak a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish. In 2000 in Espoo, for example, non-native speakers represented 3,8% of the population (7900 people) and in just 20 years this number is now 19% (55,000 people), with a tendency to grow.
A huge parcel of them searches for jobs in Helsinki, and this is also true to Vantaa’s and other cities’ international residents. Two most recurrent scenarios develop: 1) people cannot enter jobs, as they do not speak Finnish, or 2) they find English-only jobs and never develop good Finnish language skills. Even though finding a job is a good start, a foreigner cannot fully well integrate society if they do not assimilate the language and culture.
For a great percentage of Finnish companies, integrating internationals can be a new and challenging process. This process could be eased if the companies could rely on accessible and validated information as a support.
Aim
Support Finnish companies with a diverse set of employees or willing to diversify their staff with different nationalities and background.
Method & target group
Develop and provide an online repository of resources for companies, managers and HR professionals, with specific material and recommendations that support and encourage the integration of their international staff into Finnish society.
The content of the repository would have scientific basis and would be created by specialized personnel. The content could be e. g. brochures, examples of integration plans, orientation on how to incorporate Finnish language into specific jobs or contexts, recommendations on team building from an international point of view, suggestions on how to self-evaluate the company’s progress in this integration process, and more.
Resources needed
1 Coordinator
1 Communication specialist
1 HR Specialist/Organizational Psychologist
1 Specialist in Finnish language and culture (e.g. teacher)
1 Online platform developer
Estimated cost
50,000€