‘My colleague and I drove 750 km in four days, from Rauma in the south to Honkajoki in the north,’ said Taina. ‘Our trip focused on meeting companies that we knew employed foreign staff, which is fairly rare in much of Finland,’ she added.
Satakunta, her own region, boasts a booming economy with vacancies for everything from port workers to doctors and nurses. In another region nearby, Valmet Automotive is seeking 1 000 new employees in 2017, mainly car-builders, and so the company must probably recruit abroad too.
‘In our cosy bus we welcomed representatives of 22 companies, ranging from a metalwork factory to a vegetable farm employing up to 90 people seasonally every year,’ said Taina.
Each meeting lasted up to an hour, usually with the human resources manager. With the aid of brochures and a friendly chat, plus fresh coffee and buns, the participants learned more about EURES and ways it can help their firms to recruit or retain foreign staff.
Language courses
Taina’s colleague Anne Helin, who drove the bus, is employed by the North-Karelian ELY Centre for SouthWest Finland to support regional business. Anne’s role on the trip was to explain to companies how they can benefit from Finnish language courses available in Finland until 2020, under the European Social Fund’s Labour Mobility in Europe project.
A key partner of EURES, the ESF co-funds and delivers the language courses to foreign employees from other EU/EEA countries before they arrive in Finland or in-company. Each course (up to 380 hours) is tailored to a specific occupation or industry such as healthcare, while teaching participants the basics of Finnish and about the country’s work and culture.
The in-company language courses (up to 120 hours) held in Finland are for foreign employees in various sectors. Available in Finnish or Swedish, they cover professional vocabulary and can also include professional skills tests.
Two-way communication
‘Everybody was happy to see us and said the minibus was an innovative way of communicating about EURES. They could also tell us directly about their recruitment needs,’ said Taina.
Taina was happy to see that the trip encouraged several companies to request that EURES Finland and ESF organise languages courses for their employees. Another employer is keen for EURES to hold a recruitment day on his premises. So Taina hopes to repeat the experience in spring 2017, spreading the good news about EURES services to more companies.
Related links:
Finnish Public Employment Service
Satakunta Region, Finland
Read more:
Working and living conditions in EURES countries
EURES Jobs Database
EURES services for employers
EURES Events Calendar
Upcoming Online Events
EURES on Facebook
EURES on Twitter
EURES on LinkedIn
EURES on Google+
Details
- Publication date
- 1 March 2017
- Authors
- European Labour Authority | Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
- Topics
- EURES best practice
- News/reports/statistics
- Related section(s)
- Sector
- Accomodation and food service activities
- Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies
- Activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services
- Administrative and support service activities
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing
- Arts, entertainment and recreation
- Construction
- Education
- Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
- Financial and insurance activities
- Human health and social work activities
- Information and communication
- Manufacturing
- Mining and quarrying
- Other service activities
- Professional, scientific and technical activities
- Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
- Real estate activities
- Transportation and storage
- Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles