Business Professional´s perspectives on integrating a non-Finnish workforce

Abstract

Many reports and statistics indicate that Finnish working life is undergoing a transformation in terms of labour resources and the need for a foreign workforce. One possible solution to this need might be the recruitment of Finnish higher-educated international students, who make a commitment to stay in Finland after graduation. The programme “Meet and Greet the Companies” was created to facilitate the connection between international students and companies open to an international workforce. The pilot project was hosted by the Central Finland Chamber of Commerce, the project KOHTAUTUS, and the Talent Boost unit at Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences. The purpose of the thesis was to explore how local companies' business professionals view and experience the international students as employees, and the benefits and challenges faced when integrating international talent. The study was implemented as qualitative research to gather the views of local business professionals. The data collection method was a pre-project survey and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with four company representatives who guided their international student trainees during the “Meet and Greet the Companies” pilot project for three months. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis. To better understand the environment, statistics and forecasts of the population are presented, the impact of multiculturalism, discussion in the media on business professionals' views on international workforce and briefly the status of international students in Central Finland. The literature review showed that even when cultural differences in the workplace may bring challenges, the positive impact may overcome the challenges faced. Multiculturalism benefits business, and the culturally rich workplace community increases diverse thinking. The main challenges mentioned by the respondents related to the” Meet and Greet the Companies” programme itself. Business professionals felt that the information and support provided were insufficient and unclear. Moreover, integrating internationals into Finnish working life was not achieved to the extent that the programme’s goal was. Business professionals felt, however, that both parties gained from the experience. Clear instructions on how to proceed with the “Meet and Greet the Companies” programme, and an onboarding package for guidance with internationals, could be provided for the companies to fully benefit from the programme. More support is needed to make the successful integration of the non-Finnish workforce possible.