International workforce keeps production in Finland

Column  07.09.2023

The availability of skilled workforce, as well as its integration with rapidly developing technologies, emerges as the biggest challenge in the research of the future of several fields, and more and more companies perceive workforce shortage as the most significant obstacle to growth now and in the future. Every year, the Alihankintamessut trade fair brings together the manufacturing industry’s most significant companies and networks among which the theme of the industry’s prospects has been topical for years. This year, under the theme of “Globally local”, solutions to this problem are sought with the aid of diversifying possibilities of the international workforce. The main focus is on the need of having skilled workforce to ensure the industry thrives in Finland also in the years to come.

Innolink Staff has a long history in recruiting skilled workforce in the manufacturing industry. In order to maintain production in Finland, professionals have been recruited locally in Finland for a long time but for years also abroad: first in the Baltic countries, then in the rest of Europe. Most recently, cooperative networks have been built in third countries from where currently the most skilled workforce comes for the needs of Finland’s various industries. Workforce from these countries is specifically hired long-term. So, we are not trying to solve a temporary, short-term workforce shortage but are importing highly experienced professionals to Finland for several years – even permanently.

When it comes to Finnish workers, there is much less workforce entering the labour market each year compared to those retiring and leaving it. The risk that the native population isn’t large enough to meet the needs of our country’s industry in the future is widely acknowledged. Some companies have already invested considerably in importing and integrating foreign workforce into their production, but many are still at the beginning of the workforce internationalization path. Innolink Staff offers ready-made solutions for this by recruiting skilled professionals in the country of origin, preparing the receiving company for the workers’ arrival and by comprehensively taking care of settlement and integration services. When necessary, tests are carried out in the country of origin, which ensures that the candidates have sufficient skills for each job description, and in cooperation with educational institutions, additional training is offered to develop skills as needed. Studying the Finnish language will be encouraged during or right after the recruitment process.

Although recruitment is focused on countries in which the incoming workforce speaks fluent English, learning Finnish facilitates the integration process. For foreign workers, an important part of settling into Finland is familiarization with our culture, the rules of our working life and the code of conduct both in the workplace and outside of it. In order to make recruiting abroad as easy as possible for companies, Innolink Staff also helps with, for example, housing and furnishing, airport transportation and other everyday errands. In addition, employees are always provided with Finnish personal identification numbers, income-tax cards, Finnish bank accounts and other necessary documents. In this way, employees from different cultures, climates or operating environments will have a smooth start and they will integrate into our society according to Finnish principles. And most importantly, thanks to this long-term and skilled workforce, our production will remain in Finland also in the future – regardless of geographic location.

Lari Nurmi, Business Director, Innolink Staff