Integration of foreigners into the Finnish workforce has been a thorny problem for years. Unnecessary language requirements areoften an issue, and some jobseekers say they've faced discrimination.

On FridayHelsingin Sanomat reports on efforts by the municipality of Espoo to map out and deal with the problem of getting people with foreign backgrounds into the Finnish workforce.

A recent survey by the municipal council found that highly-skilled international workers struggled to find employment in Finland.

Respondents said they believed their job search was made more difficult by the fact they are foreign. This was also the case for work that didn't require Finnish language skills, the survey suggested.

Conducted in cooperation with Universum Finland, a Finnish company focusing on employer development, the survey was carried out between December-January 2022 and surveyed 466 highly-qualified international professionals.

International experts considered requirements relating to Finnish language skills as the biggest obstacle to their employment. They believed employers should critically assess these requirements, if they want to be attractive employers.

HS spoke to Espoo residentXijung Wang, who’d worked as a university researcher in the field of biotechnology in the United States. Although she speaks Finnish, she has faced difficulties. Wang said that even though only one job she applied to stated fluency in Finnish as a requirement, she still hasn't been able to secure employment. Wang says she believes some companies are afraid of cultural differences, and therefore do not hire international talent.

Up to 75 percent of international jobseekers surveyed reported they had experienced discrimination when looking for a job. Meanwhile, 61 percent said they had experienced discrimination in the workplace and 45 percent of respondents said they had failed to receive any response to their job applications from some employers.

Universum Finland Country DirectorMika Sallinen finds the results extremely worrying. He says they show that Finnish working life is still a long way from supporting diversity.

Winter tyre availability on fragile footing

The war in Ukraine may affect the availability and price of tyres in Finland. The summer tyre season starts next week but the war has disrupted industry supply chains, leading to issues in tyre availability, Kauppalehti reports.

Juha Ala-Hiiro, a leading expert at the Finnish Trade Union Confederation, says Russia and Ukraine are critical suppliers of materials to the Finnish tyre industry.

For instance, Nokian Tyres produced around 80 percent of its passenger vehicle tyresin Russialast year, and the firm has faced criticism for deciding to continue production in the country.

Although summer tyre production has mostly been completed, potential price hikes due to rising freight and logistics costs may still affect consumers.

Production and raw material cost increases would however affect winter tyre prices.

Ala-Hiiro says the industry could turn to Asia or the United States for raw material purchases, but it's unclear how fast the switch could be implemented.

So if motorists might need new winter tyres this autumn, Ala-Hiiro suggests purchasing them right away.

Nurses unions impose overtime ban

Municipal workers across multiple sectors are still in dispute with their employers, as a new collective agreement is thrashed out.

One of the bitterest disputes is between nurses and their employers, as nurses target an increase in pay over and above the annual cost-of-living raises to try and mitigate low pay in the profession.

Aamulehti reports that the nurses' unions said on Thursday they are implementing an overtime and shift work ban, as collective bargaining has not progressed as unions hoped. The ban affects the entire municipal sector, beginning on Saturday afternoon and lasting until next Friday.

Unions Tehy and Super are demanding a 3.6 percent salary increase for healthcare workers annually over five years, in addition to annual contract increases. The organisations estimate the costs of the programme would total about 300 million euros a year. Employer groups say the requirement is too costly for the public sector to implement.

A strike warning issued by Tehy and Super last week would involve 40,000 healthcare workers across 13 different hospital districts. The two-week strike is scheduled to start on April 1st, unless an agreement on working conditions is reached.