Immigrants are an important source of workforce and productivity for Finland. They also bring new expertise and networks to Finland. In a good economic situation, the employment situation of immigrant men is almost at the same level as with the rest of the population, but the employment of women lags significantly behind. It is important to identify the reasons behind the weaker employment situation of women and to propose ways to improve the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its programme, Petteri Orpo\u2019s Government outlined an action programme to support the participation of under-represented groups, including immigrant women, in work. In STTK\u2019s opinion, it would be essential to take into account women\u2019s own view of barriers and promoters of employment in the programme. We have put together a number of different actions and considerations in this document. They are based on an interview and survey study conducted by E2 Research in 2024\u20132025. The respondents are trained immigrant women who are employed or looking for work, as well as experts working in employment and integration services.
Achieving a good employment situation of immigrants requires the efforts of the state and labour market parties. The processes and services for entry into the country and integration need to be improved, together with the identification and recognition of competences. Discriminatory practices at workplaces must be dismantled. 47% of the respondents had experienced discrimination related to work.
Further restrictions to entering and staying in the country weaken immigrants\u2019 willingness to come to Finland and commit themselves to working in Finland. 52% of the respondents felt that the social climate had deteriorated from the point of view of immigrants over the past few years. If immigration based on work and education is to be the solution to Finland\u2019s decline in population, attention must also be paid to how welcoming the society is and how well the work environment can retain people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\t