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Expert article 870 Baltic Rim Economies, 21.12.2011 Quarterly Review 5�2011 Finland needs a strategy for immigration By Mika Kaukonen We Finns still live according to the stern belief that doing things ourselves yields the best outcome. We hardly even dare to rely on the help of our neighbors. We value hard work, diligence and perseverance. We persistently strive to reach our goals, even if it means exhausting ourselves to the bitter end. Nevertheless, it is an irrefutable fact that the number of Finns on the labor market will decrease dramatically in the upcoming years. According to the Eurostat statistics concerning population scenarios, the dependency ratio in Finland will be the weakest among the EU countries by 2030, and the proportion of the working age population as compared to the entire population will drop from 67 percent to 58 percent. For example, it is estimated that the field of social welfare and healthcare will lose a total of 185,000 professionals by the year 2025, while at the same time there will be an additional need for 125,000 new professionals. The total need for professionals in the social welfare and healthcare field alone will rise to 310,000. Immigration arouses many intense feelings within us Finns. The phenomenon also involves prejudices and populism. Indeed, an article in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper by the Taloustutkimus market research company revealed to the public in November 2011 just how biased we are towards foreigners. Many of us fear that they have come to here to just “lay around” and not work at all. On the other hand, we do not seem to be the workaholics we imagine ourselves to be. As the numbers of the employed decrease, more and more Finns would sooner be prepared to shorten their workday than to lengthen it. The majority of us would still like to retire at the age of 63. However, the government is still looking for a solution to the future problems of lengthening the workday and raising the retirement age. It is high time to admit that Finland’s greatest problem in the future is not related to today’s employees and work ethics; rather, it is the ominously approaching, uncontrollable lack of labor. Instead of engaging in futile discussion about the issue, we should be thinking about who will organize the employment of foreign labor in Finland and how it will be organized. Furthermore, it is important to consider the game rules for this type of activity in our society and how those rules are to be enforced. Indeed, Finland needs a clear strategy drawn up by the government to lure foreign labor into the country. The competition is tough, e.g. Germany is worried about losing its competitive edge because, more and more, immigrants are choosing Great Britain or France. The deliberations of the Finland Promotion Board should, without a doubt, be utilized to lure foreign employees as well, not just for the purposes of tourism. We here at VMP have already took concrete actions to recruit foreign staff to meet the needs of the working world in Finland. However, this area of recruitment has a weak reputation because there are many black economy entrepreneurs on the market at this very moment. Recruiting foreign staff is indeed business for us as well, but not only do we benefit from responsible recruitment but the society, client companies, employees and trade unions also benefit from it. When foreign employees arrive in Finland through a certified recruitment agency, they pay their taxes to Finland and they have a Finnish employment 20 relationship with a Finnish employer. Foreigners coming to Finland to work at temporary posts pay their taxes to their own country. The benefit to our society lies in the fact that the employees coming into Finland are treated just as well as our own nationals. Coming to work through certified channels also means longer trial periods. They have from a few months to more than one year to observe the Finnish society and decide whether or not they want to bring their family here. The trade unions also receive new members. Even now, nearly 20,000 of the employees with a foreign background belong to a trade union. Foreign employees who belong to a trade union are guaranteed all of the same benefits as Finnish employees. Pioneers and those who disrupt official consensus in our society have always been labeled as the “village idiots”. Responsibility does, however, call for the perfecting and refining of practices and operations models. Bringing foreign workers into Finland only when the need is greatest is not possible in practice, at least it does not yield the best possible outcome. The days of drudging along alone are over. Foreign workers should not be seen as a threat in our eyes, but as resources in Finland’s labor market of the future. Without them, we Finns should prepare for significantly longer workdays and careers. Mika Kaukonen CEO VMP Group Finland The author works as CEO of one of Finland’s largest, privately owned providers of staffing services, VMP Group. He has several years of experience in the management of international business, for example in the Middle East, the Far East, Western and Eastern Europe, which has provided him with knowledge of other cultures. � Pan-European Institute � To receive a free copy please register at www.tse.fi/pei �
Expert article 871 Baltic Rim Economies, 21.12.2011 Quarterly Review 5�2011 Current trends of internationalisation within the University of Turku By Irinja Paakkanen As one of the leading universities in Finland the University of Turku is an ambitious, research-led university with seven faculties and internationally acknowledged expertise from humanities to medicine and natural sciences. The University of Turku is a significant multidisciplinary research cluster. Out of more than 3,000 academic publications per year 76 % is international. The main focus areas of the University are internationally competitive research and education, extensive business competence and effective commercialisation of innovations. The University of Turku offers an excellent research environment where multidisciplinary collaboration is enabled, among others, by six Academy of Finland Centres of Excellence, one Nordic Centre of Excellence, the Turku Centre for Biotechnology and the Turku PET Centre. The University of Turku hosts two multidisciplinary research collegia to promote research careers of young scholars: Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) and Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine (TCSM). Strengthening Doctoral Training The University has almost 2000 doctoral students, over 10 % of which is international. Each year 140 doctoral degrees are awarded. In order to strengthen the doctoral training both on national and international level the University of Turku Graduate School was established last August. The Graduate School consists of local, national and international Doctoral Programmes which cover all disciplines and PhD students of the University. The Graduate School provides systematic and high quality doctoral training on academic topics as well as on transferable skills and career planning. Campus of International Studies and Students The University is recognised for the quality of teaching, research and excellent student support services. In 2011 the University of Turku was ranked 224th in the international QS World University Rankings, making it the second-highest ranked Finnish university. Turku School of Economics is ranked excellent by Eduniversal. School of Economics at the University of Turku offers also one of the Top 200 Best Masters Worldwide in Information Systems Management. The International Student Barometer survey (Entry Wave 2010) shows that international students are very satisfied with studying conditions like libraries, computer classes, laboratories and IT-services. Foreign students in Turku give also positive feedback about international services, especially about the housing, admission procedure and orientation. Moreover, Finland’s security and political stability in general is much appreciated. Current student enrolment is over 20 000. This includes over 1,800 international students. Last year international students were mainly from Germany, Russia, China and France; altogether from 94 different countries. Most of them participate in different research projects or in one of the 16 international Master’s Degree programmes. Among them, the multidisciplinary Master’s Degree Programme in Baltic Sea Region Studies (BSRS) is a partner of newly selected Erasmus Mundus International Masters in Russian, Central and East European Studies (IMRCEES) programme. 21 Mobility within Strategic Partnerships Almost 1000 students studied abroad for shorter or longer periods in 2010. During 2012 the University will review all its international student and teacher exchange agreements in order to integrate exchanges and the international aspect of studies even more closely to the curriculum. The number of incoming exchange students have grown rapidly up to 600 during the last years mainly thanks to the University’s active involvement in EU programmes such as Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus. The University of Turku is currently coordinating two large Erasmus Mundus – partnerships between EU and with Russia and with Belarussia, Moldova and Ukraine. These projects are closely linked to University’s international cooperation within the Baltic Sea Region University Network and Coimbra Group. The University is also a partner of several other Mundus partnerships encouraging mobility in various levels between EU and third countries. Furthermore, the University is member of other partnerships such as Nordic Centre at Fudan University in China and Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD). The new EU programme Erasmus for All 2014-2020 to be launched will surely benefit the University’s international commitment in education and life long learning. Recruiting talent The University of Turku has recently introduced the tenure track system for teaching and research personnel. The purpose is to increase the predictability, competitiveness and attractiveness of the academic career as well as to advance the University’s internationalisation. The aim is to find the most talented, suitable and motivated individuals for the tenure track positions in the increasingly competitive situation. A new service concept International Welcome Services for incoming post-docs, researches, doctoral students and teachers will be launched in the beginning of 2012. The service includes e.g. advice on permissions regarding visa / residence permit, and information on arriving and settling in Turku. Moreover, the university has also recently adapted a Language Policy covering all the functions of the University, among them administration. The action line that the University of Turku adopted a few years ago is coherent with the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture’s aim for high-quality, profiled and effective international university sector. The recent proposal for an upcoming reform of university financing model also introduces new indicators focusing more on internationalisation. This will surely encourage all actors involved to continue strengthening internationality as a natural part of the University community. Irinja Paakkanen Head of International Affairs University of Turku Finland � Pan-European Institute � To receive a free copy please register at www.tse.fi/pei �
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