I am recruiting from abroad
Is your organization hiring an employee from abroad? Read about what you need to consider as an employer.
If you are seeking international expertise for your company and a suitable individual cannot be found in Finland, it is worth looking for an employee or intern from abroad. It is important to remember, however, that you may need a separate permit for employing someone from another country.
If the employer has not found a suitable employee in Finland, they can search for labour abroad. The employer can also utilise a labour market area larger than Finland in larger-scale recruitments.
You may need a separate permit to hire an employee from abroad, and an employee from outside the EU or the EEA must have the right to work in Finland. Please also note that your foreign employees are subject to the same employment rights and obligations, terms of employment, occupational safety requirements, and statutory insurances as Finnish employees.
Work in Finland as an aid in international recruitment
Work in Finland's international recruitment advice for employers is a nationwide and centralized service that offers employers general advice regarding international recruitment and work-related immigration.
The service is open Mon–Fri from 9 am to 3 pm. Call +358 295 016 770 to use the telephone service or to request a call-back. You can also send an email to tyonantajaneuvonta@workinfinland.fi.
Services
EURES assists with recruitments from Europe
EURES (European Employment Services) is a comprehensive European cooperation network and a high-quality public service that brings employees and employers together in all of Europe.
EURES experts trained and specialised in European employment services help with recruitment processes in all EU and EEA countries. The unique network employs about 1,000 experts. EURES helps 50,000 jobseekers find work in a different country every year.
EURES experts
- know the European labour market and act as a middleman in recruitment,
- help find a suitable target country and start the recruitment process,
- find a local partner for cooperation,
- assist in participating in job fairs and promote the company's vacancies,
- organise a recruitment event in the target country if needed,
- respond to applicants' enquiries and receive applications,
- make a pre-selection if necessary – the employer always makes the final decision, and
- advise foreign employees in matters related to migration and Finnish working life.
You can find free EURES services at the nearest TE Office.
Services
More information
- EURES-advisers at TE Offices (toimistot.te-palvelu.fi)
- EURES Suomi, in Finnish (toimistot.te-palvelut.fi)
An employee who is a non-EU country, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland citizen usually needs either an employee's residence permit or another residence permit entitling gainful employment. For help with these questions, please contact the work permit services.
Services
Read more
EURES portal and events help with recruitment
European CV database
A great tool for recruitment is the EURES portal with its European vacancies and CV database. Employers can advertise open jobs and browse job seeker resumes in the portal.
Opening a job advertisement
Through the EURES specialists at the TE Office, it is possible for the employer to open a job advertisement directly on the job search pages of another member of the EURES network and expand recruitment outside Finland's borders. Please, contact your nearest EURES specialist to initiate recruitment.
Recruitment events
You can participate in recruitment events organized in Europe together with experts. You can also
- attend a job fair and interview jobseekers,
- leave a job posting with an expert who spreads it to suitable applicants, or
- participate in European Online Job Days online recruitment events.
Participation in fairs is usually free of charge. You pay for your own travel and accommodation.
Please, contact your local EURES specialist. We will help you find the best recruitment events for your company.
More information
- EURES-portal (ec.europa.eu)
- European Job Days (europeanjobdays.eu)
- Brochure International recruitment (businessfinland.fi)
- International competences and working life (oph.fi)
- EU legislation (kela.fi)
- Funding services (businessfinland.fi)
Recruiting with the help of Targeted Mobility Schemes
Through financial support, the Targeted Mobility Scheme facilitates the recruitment of experts from another EU country, Norway or Iceland. The project is coordinated by the Swedish Public Employment Service together with EURES members.
Through the project, a company can be granted financial support for the costs of induction training and adaptation to a new country. The amount of support granted to the employer is determined based on the extent of the induction provided to the jobseeker. For employers located in Finland, the subsidy is EUR 1,390-1,750 per employee recruited.
You can get financial support when the following conditions are met:
- The hired employee must be at least 18 years old and a permanent resident of the EU, Norway, or Iceland.
- You must offer the employee arriving in the country job orientation, help to settle in the locality, or language training.
- Your organization has no more than 250 employees and is legally established in an EU country, Norway, or Iceland.
- You enter into an employment contract with the recruit for at least six months, the salary and working conditions are in accordance with national labor legislation, and the employment contract applies to full-time or part-time work, but at least 50% of the full-time working time.
- The position has been publicly open for applications.
Please, note that to apply for support, you must contact your region's EURES specialist.
Jobseekers also can apply for support for work interview trips and settling in as well as for language courses and the costs of recognition of qualifications.
Application forms
In the application forms, you will find more detailed instructions on what, e.g. the basic orientation or a more extensive orientation must include and which attachments are needed to apply for support. The support is employee-specific, meaning that if there are several employees to be hired, you can receive this amount for each employee. Please note that the project has the right to make changes to the grant amounts.
Please send the application form to BBi Communication Finland Ltd at eures@bbi.se or Allianssi Youth Exchanges at eures@alli.fi.
More information
- EURES Targeted Mobility Scheme - Arbetsförmedlingen (arbetsformedlingen.se)
- German project (eures-deutschland.de, in German)
Finnish and Swedish at the workplace to help with everyday work
Finnish and Swedish at the workplace meets the needs of today's internationalising working life. This customisable language programme offers your company’s employees with a foreign background the opportunity to succeed in their work in Finnish or Swedish.
Workplace Finnish or Swedish improves the capacity of employees with a foreign background to cope in Finnish or Swedish in their work and in communication situations at their workplace. The aim of the training is to support the employee's professional competence, learning the professional vocabulary needed at work and integration into the work community. The desired level of language proficiency is agreed on an individual and/or group basis.
The motivation and competence of the employee to be trained increases as the language skills accumulate, which benefits the entire work community.
Services
More information
When you create your job posting in English, the number of potential applicants increases. These simple instructions help you attract skilled employees to your open positions around the world.
If proficiency in a language other than Finnish or Swedish is sufficient for the open position, you should create the job posting in English. Select English as the language of the job posting and write the job posting in English. Remember to also select English as the working language. Both the language of the job posting and the working language are selected at the beginning of the form. When you create the job posting in English, you will get the best possible visibility for the position both among international job seekers already living in Finland and talents living abroad.
In general, the recommendations for job postings in Finnish also apply to English job postings for international employees. In the job posting, it is advisable to give detailed information about the content of the position, the competence required for the position and what you offer to an employee as an employer. When attracting talent from abroad to Finland, you should also tell slightly more about the organisation and give a general description of the area where the workplace is located. You can use various marketing materials that present Finland when creating a job posting. They are publicly available on the Finland Toolbox website.
Contact information for International Recruitment Advice Service for Employers
If you need help in creating a job posting for international recruitment, you can contact Work in Finland’s advice service for employers. The service is open from Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 15:00. Call +358 295 016 770 to use the telephone service or to request a call-back. You can also send an email to tyonantajaneuvonta@workinfinland.fi.
Would you like to receive proposals directly from jobseekers who are suitable for your vacancy? At Job Market Finland, you can create a job posting and receive applications from jobseekers who meet the needs of your workplace. Jobseeker users can also find your job postings when browsing for vacancies or job recommendations.
To create a job posting on Job Market Finland, follow the instructions below.
- Log in to Job Market Finland just as you would log in as an individual client. We want to take special care of your privacy and personal data, so you’ll log in using your online banking ID or mobile certificate.
- We’ll ask for some basic information, such as your email address. You can also choose whether you want to receive emails about the development of Job Market Finland.
- To create a job posting, you must change your role to company representative. You can do this by clicking the purple button at the top of the page that shows your name or the name of the company you represent. If the company you want does not appear in the role selection list, check if you have the necessary authority to represent the company. More information on the page "Job Market Finland and Authorisations".
- Once you have selected the correct role, you can start completing the job posting from "Create a new job posting” on the opened "Job postings" page. Fill in at least the mandatory fields marked with a red asterisk on the form.
- On the "Language selection" tab you select the languages in which you want to submit the job posting. This is different from what languages a candidate needs to know for the job.
- On the "Description" tab, you enter the job description. Describe the type of position in detail. Write a concise heading that will appear in a job search.
- On the "Keywords" tab, select the keywords associated with the job. These will be suggested to you based on the content you entered in the "Description" tab. You can also add other keywords from a comprehensive list.
- On the "Skills requirements" tab you can list the skills required in the position. These limit the list of recommended job seekers.
- The "Detailed information" tab allows you to provide other information related to the position. This information is used, for example, in job search and browsing filters.
- On the "Search Instructions" tab you can indicate how long applications will be accepted for the job and add a link to a separate application form. If you wish, your job can also be transferred to the job search service at paikat.te-palvelut.fi.
The keywords vocabulary is based on a Europe-wide occupation and competence ontology that unfortunately does not contain all of Finland's well-known professions or related competences. Do not allow this to prevent you creating a job posting, but select job titles and competence terminology that are as suitable as possible. You can read these titles and terminology on the ESCO professional terminology website.
- Once you have entered all the mandatory information for a job posting, you can preview it and publish it. Your job can then be found on the Job Market Finland's job search and becomes a 'Recommended job' for those jobseekers who have completed their profile and whose skills and experience correspond to the requirements of your workplace.
- You will receive proposals for jobseekers suitable for your workplace who have published their profile on the Job Market Finland. If you find an interesting profile, you can contact the jobseeker directly through the Job Market Finland. You can read more about matching on the page "How the matching works".
Functions related to business activities require a person to have a specific role in the company or community. If you are not in such a role but want to use the Job Market Finland, you need Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
Please select your situation below and check what authorisation you need. Below you can also find instructions for obtaining authorisation. Job Market Finland is not part of the authorisation process; it is a function between the authorising company and the authorised person in Suomi.fi.
Removing an authorisation
Please remember that the authorisation must be removed separately if, for example, the person you have authorised changes jobs and you no longer want them to represent your organisation in Job Market Finland. You can remove the authorisation in the Suomi.fi e-Authorisations service.
Personal customer
As a private customer, you do not need a separate authorisation for Job Market Finland. However, you must be able to log in to the service using Suomi.fi e-Identification. For this, you will need either a Finnish on-line banking ID, a mobile certificate or an identity card with a chip.
Company or association with a Business ID
You do not need separate authorisation to use Job Market Finland. You can use all the facilities of our service on behalf of your company.
If you wish, you can give another person authorisation to represent your company at the Job Market Finland. There are four different types of authorisation and they are intended for different functions - you can give a company representative full authorisation or limit a person's authority at the Job Market Finland. Authorisations are given through the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations service. You will find the instructions below.
A person entitled to sign for a company must give you authorisation to use the Job Market Finland.
- Go to the Suomi.fi authorisation service: Suomi.fi Authorisation (suomi.fi)
- Identify yourself with your personal online banking ID, mobile certificate, or certificate card.
- Select "Company's mandates"
- Select the company of your choosing from the list. Continue with the "Select and go to the e-service" button.
- Click "Grant mandates" and select the mandate type. Continue to the next pages with the “Next” button at the bottom right of the page.
- Select "Add a person". Enter the personal information of the person to be authorised and select "Add".
- Select the desired mandate themes. The authorisations of Job Market Finland are "Management of job advertisements", "Examination of jobseeker information and contacting applicants" and "Updating the description of job provider".
- An authorised person with the "Management of job advertisements" authorisation can edit, publish, and delete job postings.
- An authorised person with the "Examination of jobseeker information and contacting applicants" authorisation can contact job seekers who have published a job applicant profile
- With the "Updating the description of job provider" authorisation, an authorised person can edit the general description of the employer, which will be displayed on all job postings.
- Select an expiration date in the "Validity" section.
- Finally, select "Validate".
The Enterprise Finland telephone service provides advice on Suomi.fi authorisation.
The right to work in Finland is determined by one’s nationality.
An employee who is not a citizen of an EU country, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland usually needs either a residence permit for an employed person or another type of residence permit which entitles them to gainful employment. Some tasks specified in the Aliens Act may be performed for a limited period of time with a visa or fully exempted from visa.
The residence permit for an employed person is issued in two stages. The TE Office makes a partial decision for the residence permit application for an employed person (TTOL) and the Finnish Immigration Service issues the final residence permit decision. The TE Office’s partial decision is based on an overall assessment, which includes assessing the availability of labour, the terms of the employment relationship, and both the employer’s and employee’s prerequisites. The employee’s income through gainful employment must also be secured.
The residence permit applications for employed persons (TTOL) are processed nationwide without regional jurisdictional boundaries. In the Åland Islands, the applications are processed by Ålands arbetsmarknads- and studieservicemyndighet (The Åland Labour Market and Student Service Authority).
Processing times
Employee residence permit applications are processed within a maximum of two months from the date the authority has received the properly completed application with its attachments. The TE Office first makes a partial decision, after which the Finnish Immigration Service makes the final decision on the application.
More information
When is a residence permit for an employed person required?
A foreigner’s right to work in Finland is determined by one’s nationality.
EU citizens are allowed to work in Finland without a residence permit, as well as citizens of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. However, a stay of more than three months must be registered with Finnish Immigration Service. Nordic citizens must register with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The applicant is responsible for registering their stay. A residence permit or visa issued by a Schengen country does not entitle the holder to work in Finland with the exception of work specifically appointed in Section 79 of the Aliens Act.
An employee who is a national of a country other than the ones mentioned above, or a so-called third-country national, usually requires a residence permit for an employed person or another type of residence permit allowing one to work in Finland. An employee must apply for a residence permit for an employed person when they do not have another type of residence permit entitling them to work in Finland, no other specific residence permit can be granted for the work, and the type of work cannot be performed without a valid residence permit.
More information
The employer must ensure the right to work
The employer is obliged to ensure that a foreign worker has the right to work in Finland. The right to work can be checked from the residence permit card. If the employee does not have a valid residence permit, or if the employee's right to work is restricted to another line of work, the employer cannot employ them until an appropriate residence permit has been issued.
The Finnish Immigration Service provides information on the foreigners’ right to work and what kind of residence permit is needed for working or if work can be carried out without a residence permit.
More information
- Finnish Immigration Service
- Webinar: What to consider when hiring from Ukraine (youtube.com, in Finnish)
Right to work with a residence permit for an employed person
If the application is the employee's first residence permit application or the application is in a different line of work than the residence permit previously granted to the employee, the employee cannot start work until the employee's residence permit has been issued.
The employee's residence permit is issued for a certain line of work specified on the card. If the name of the employer is mentioned on the residence permit card, the foreigner may only work for this employer.
The employee may continue working during the application process for the extended residence permit if the extended residence permit is applied for before the end of the previous permit and the work continues with the same employer or within the same line of work.
More information
Employer’s obligation to report foreign labour
An employer who employs a non-EU citizen shall promptly provide the TE Office with an account of the key terms and conditions of the employment relationship. It is not necessary to provide such an account or assurance if the person recruited is an EU citizen or a family member treated as such.
The notification can be made electronically through the employer's Enter Finland service.
The notification can also be made by sending the TE Office a TEM055 attachment form and a copy of the employee's passport or residence permit card.
When you have stated the terms of employment in connection with the work-based residence permit application, you do not need to submit an employee report.
You also do not need to make an announcement if you have notified the working conditions in connection with the seasonal work residence permit application, seasonal work certificate, or seasonal work visa.
The employer must inform the shop steward and keep the information of the foreigner’s employment for two years after the end of the employment.
Services
- Examination of the terms of employment of a foreigner regarding a residence permit for an employee
- Notification of the terms and conditions of employment of non-EU workers
More information
The collective agreement applicable in the field and the employee's personal employment contract restrict the employer's unilateral right, i.e. the right to supervise work.
However, as an employer, you must comply with the following principles.
- The right to supervise work only applies to working hours.
- Provisions that violate the law or good practice are prohibited.
- The employee's physical and professional capacity to perform the assigned task must be considered.
- Changes that significantly affect the position of the employee must be negotiated in accordance with the cooperation procedure.
- The employee's privacy must not be violated.
In addition, matters that restrict the right to supervise work may be agreed upon in the employment contract. For example, if working hours or tasks have not been recorded in the employment contract, you must provide a written report to the employee at the latest after the end of the first pay period.
Remember that as an employer, you cannot usually unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment described in the employment contract, but they must be re-agreed with the employee.
The occupational safety and health website contains a detailed list of the employer's obligations laid down in legislation.
More information
- Right to direct (tyosuojelu.fi)
- Rights and responsibilities at work (tyosuojelu.fi)
- Checklist of employer’s obligations (tyosuojelu.fi)