Guest blogger: Work in Finland helps employment areas promote international recruitment

The survey inquired about employment areas' international recruitment customer management, events and platforms for organising virtual events, service production, tasks of specialists, training needs and wishes for communication between employment areas and Work in Finland services. At the same time, it was investigated how useful employment areas find the current Work in Finland services.

Responses were received from 36 employment areas, which is a pleasingly big number. This shows that international employment services are seen as important in employment areas. This is despite the fact that 60% of employment areas reported that they had only recently had discussions regarding international employment services or recognised that discussions should be initiated. Although the situations vary in different areas, all employment areas reported that preparations had been initiated at least at some level regarding international employment service tasks. So there is a will to develop services, but in the midst of major changes, international employment services are not the first priority on the list of things to be organised in many employment areas.

One of the most important tasks of the Work in Finland service is to support employment areas in taking over international employment services. However, it is clear from the survey responses that the need for support in different employment areas varies greatly. It is important that support, information, and guidance are available, even if not all employment areas will make use of them to the same extent.

The customership management system used by the KEHA Centre and employment areas, the Job Market Finland for Specialists (JOMAS), will be the only system for international recruitment customership management for the majority of employment areas that responded to the survey. However, the larger the employment area, the more likely it is that the area will also have some other customership management system that will be used to manage international recruitment customerships. Smooth and straightforward customer relationship management from the customer's perspective is of course at the core of all our work, and this work will continue both at the KEHA Centre and in the municipalities and future employment areas.

Events, networks, and collaboration help international recruitment succeed

International skilled workers and job openings that do not require Finnish or Swedish language skills are matched mainly through existing employment service platforms, such as Job Market Finland and the EURES portal. In addition to these, various events, which are organised both virtually and on-site, both in Finland and abroad, play a significant role in recruiting international skilled workers. Although employment areas are willing to participate in and organise events, the transfer of employment services to municipalities at the turn of the year is expected to cause some initial stiffness. Therefore, fewer events will be able to be attended and organised during 2025 than in subsequent years. The change is also visible in the activities of Work in Finland, to the extent that, for example, the virtual EOJD event of the European Employment Services will only be organised in autumn in 2025, while from 2026 onwards, the aim is for Work in Finland to organise the event in the spring as well.

According to the survey, among the services already existing under the Work in Finland umbrella, employment areas consider networks and partnerships in target countries for attracting workers in accordance with the government programme to be particularly important. In addition, services that develop the capabilities of work communities to receive international skilled workers are considered useful.

The KEHA Centre's international employment services group will be challenged in the future by the employment areas' need to receive information through multiple channels, but at the same time in a way that does not fragment the information. This challenge does not only apply to international recruitment, but also to the information sharing and communication between the KEHA Centre and the employment areas more broadly. Although Work in Finland is already planning next year's training, information, and cooperation, we also intend to respect the employment areas' wish that the first quarter of 2025 be made as stress-free as possible and that both us at the KEHA Centre and the employment areas be given time to organise our own activities.

Although the services, support, and coordination responsibility of the KEHA Centre and Business Finland, which implement the Work in Finland services, regarding the European employment network, for example, are nationwide, our operations would not be effective without regional ecosystems for international recruitment. The transfer of employment services to the responsibility of municipalities at the turn of the year will give municipalities the opportunity to implement international employment services in a way that best supports the workforce needs and vitality of each employment area. We at Work in Finland will support and promote this important work in every way we can.

You can find the survey answers here in Finnish: Raportti TMT työllisyysaluekysely syksy 2024 (pdf)

Petra Vander Horst 

Development Specialist

KEHA Centre