Talent Boost Summit collected key factors of work-related immigration
Talent Boost Summit is an annual national event that provides listeners with up-to-date information on attracting international talent, immigration and making Finland one’s home. The fifth iteration of Talent Boost Summit was organised in Vaasa in November. It brought together nearly 500 participants around a common theme. The event focused particularly on the factors of attracting and retaining by highlighting good practices and concrete examples from different parts of Finland.
The event brought together municipal and regional developers, experts from higher education institutions and educational institutions as well as a broad representation of other relevant stakeholders. International experts also participated actively in the event. The day-long event included several speeches, a panel discussion and time for networking. The actual programme of the event took place in one day, but people were able to continue networking virtually the following day.
– As the event organisers, we can conclude that Talent Boost Summit was a success. It attracted nearly 300 participants interested in the topic to Vaasa. In addition, approximately 150 participants watched the event stream remotely. We were able to include plenty of good practices that certainly inspired other parties facing the same challenges in different parts of Finland, summarises the event coordinator Anna Korsbäck from the Ostrobothnian TE Office.
The event was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Business Finland, the Course towards Finland project (ELY Centre for Southwest Finland, ESF), the ELY Centre for Ostrobothnia and the TE Services for Ostrobothnia.
The ability to attract and retain workforce is a shared responsibility
The significance of attraction and retention is great as employers compete for skilled labour both within Finland and globally. This entity emphasises both the employer image of an individual company and various innovative partnerships as well as cooperation across sectoral boundaries at the local and national levels. Companies need the public sector to secure access to labour, and municipalities need successful companies to promote vitality. The success of work-based immigration, on the other hand, requires that the entire chain is functional from Finland’s attractiveness to the settling in of an individual expert and their family.
The topic is current, since as Finland’s demographic structure changes, companies have a great need for employees. International experts can be the answer, and also enable the company to benefit from new customers and networks, for example. We do not necessarily need to look outside Finland, as some 20,000 international degree students are studying in Finnish higher education institutions even now.
Attractiveness can be examined from several different perspectives
We heard a topical example from the viewpoint of regional attractiveness as Project Manager Ding Ma from the Regional Council of South Karelia talked about the 3 months (or more) by Lake Saimaa campaign. The project carried out by the Regional Council and its partners has provided an opportunity for Japanese and Hong Kongese Green Tech experts to familiarise themselves with the South Karelian operating environment. The campaign has been a good experience.
Taina Tuovinen and Satu Remmer from the Satakunta TE Office, on the other hand, told us about a recent comprehensive recruitment process carried out as a joint effort by the EURES network, where employers in the Satakunta region recruited nurses from Spain to Satakunta. The importance of cooperation is emphasised both in recruitment and in how experts settle in their new municipality of residence and work community.
The afternoon programme focused on the development of the ability to retain workforce from the perspective of an individual work community, region, city or municipality. In the panel discussion, the participants discussed different partnership models to strengthen the ability to retain workforce, and it was stated that the employer’s role in promoting the integration of employees is of utmost importance. The panel also discussed the challenges and importance of language proficiency in a diversifying society and work communities.
The last speech of the day was given by Senior Director and Head of the Work in Finland unit Laura Lindeman from Business Finland. She summarised the work of Talent Boost over the years as an accelerator of the internationalisation of work. They have done a good job and will continue on the same path!
Talent Vantaa is responsible for organising the Talent Boost Summit next year. The date will be announced soon.
If you want to learn more about Talent Boost Summit’s programme and speeches, you can view the stream recording.