EMPLOYMENT OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS IN FINLAND

Abstract

There are 150,000 immigrants in Finland. Russians are the second largest group after Estonians. The main purpose of this thesis was to help Russian immigrant get em-ployed in Finland. I tried to map the problems areas through interviews with both Russian immigrants and Finnish employers. The first issue of my theoretical part was to explain who the immigrants are, and what the reasons for migration are. The second part deals with cultural differences, which is supported by Geert Hofstede’s 5D-model. There are some differences, but this doesn’t seem to be a big problem for most immigrants. The most important part of this thesis is the history between Russia and Finland, which is eventful and quite painful for both countries. The history seems to have an effect even in the present day, even though the most painful and burdensome things happened nearly 70 years ago. The preconceptions cannot be explained by the history alone, but it plays a major part in it. Issues like education and the fluency of Finnish language are important as well, since being able to communicate in Finnish is vital for employment. The research was not very extensive, but with in-depth interviews I was able to get very close to the immigrants and I believe their answers to be accurate and truthful. After the research was made, and the problem areas mapped out I was able to give a few recommendations about how to ease their troubles they face in Finnish society. The research was done through nine interviews, five of them being immigrants and four of them being employers. The interviews were able to paint a clear picture about the main problems faced by Russian immigrants when they arrive to Finland in hopes of finding a job and way to support themselves and their families.