The number of immigrant workers in Finland will double by the year 2015, according to a study commissioned by the Institute of Migration. Even so, the Institute says Finland will need to entice far greater numbers of foreign workers to help fill serious gaps in the labour market. Currently, there are around 50,000 resident immigrant workers in Finland. The Institute of Migration study predicts that this figure will rise to 103,000 within eight years. But a doubling of foreign workers is not nearly enough to put a dent in the labour shortage, says the Institute, although its experts stopped short of saying exactly how many more people the work force needs. The health care sector is one area whose labour needs are growing constantly. In the next few years the industry will need between 20,000 and 30,000 new health care workers. Current immigration expectations will only provide around a thousand people qualified for these positions. Unemployment Among Immigrants Still High The Institute of Migration's research director, Elli Heikkilä, says that Finland should also turn its attention to employing the proportionally large number of unemployed immigrants currently living in the country. "Immigrants have an unemployment rate that's three times the rate among Finns. The last time the discrepancy was so high was during the recession of the 90's. Of course the unemployment rate has decreased recently just as it has among Finns, but it's still three times higher," says Heikkilä. Employers Reluctant to Hire Foreigners Finnish employers are frequently reluctant to hire foreign workers, says the Institute of Migration. But this attitude must change quickly, since other European countries are already putting enticement packages in place to lure qualified foreigners into their own flagging labour forces. "For example, many countries have stipend programmes and other enticements," says Heikkilä. "We need the same kind of special programmes and marketing, so that Finland becomes more known abroad."
YLE
