The Talent Boost Summit offered concrete information and practical tools for recruiting international talent
The event held today at Scandic Helsinki Aviacongress brought together job seekers and employers. The event was above all aimed at companies, which were offered concrete information and practical tools related to the recruitment of international talent and multicultural work communities.
Roya Ranjbar described the Finnish working life through the eyes of an international employee
The theme of the day was Growth to companies through international expertise. During the day, speeches were heard from successful international Finnish companies. In addition to companies, important target groups were key stakeholders, operators and partners who work on the topic.
- The current situation of organizations and companies is that they need international experts. Before, we thought about what we could offer international experts. Now the parts have turned around and we need their expertise. Skilled immigration strengthens and internationalizes our innovation activities and brings us more international investments and more jobs, said mayor of Vantaa, Pekka Timonen, who opened the event.
The central goal of organisations promoting international recruitment is that employers know how to and want to recruit international talent. In addition, we want Finland to be an internationally attractive place to work, study, research and try.
Project specialist Lotte Koivulainen, who is one of the organizers of the event, says that according to studies, a more culturally diverse working life makes work communities more creative, while customers and employees are more satisfied. In addition to these, a multicultural working life makes jobs and brands more attractive and companies more profitable.
A truly diverse work community means that there are people working there representing different cultural backgrounds, genders, generations, experiences and worlds of thought. Koivulainen says that studies show that when a company becomes more diverse, work productivity increases by almost 20% and the company becomes more than 30% more profitable. In addition, a diverse working community attracts more experts to the company like a magnet.
Those companies that now embrace diversity as part of their values and strategy are many steps ahead of others on the road to future success.
- The fact that our society and working life is truly diverse and culturally equal is decisive for the employment of immigrants already living here. It increases the settlement of international students and researchers who have completed their degrees here and prevents brain drain, says Mayor Timonen.
Roya Ranjbar, an Iranian who has worked in Finland for five years, was one of the keynote speakers at the event and had come to talk about Finnish working life through the eyes of an international employee. Ranjbar, who studied industrial design at university in Iran and later worked as a lecturer, came to Finland to do her dissertation but ended up working at Aida, where she is now the Head of Operations. Like several other speakers, she called for the removal of the Finnish language requirement from recruitment when international talent is sought.
- It would be important that the Finnish language was not required in recruitment, because it eliminates many good applicants. Many come to Finland even for a short time to work, and learning the Finnish language can be challenging. In addition to work, it would be great if there were more hobby opportunities in English in your free time. It would be nice if, in addition to language studies, we could do something together with Finns. It would help with integration.