“Finland is the biggest loser in 2024,” declares a sub-heading in the press release from Internations. “In just one year, the share of expats who are happy with their life there dropped from 78 per cent to 51 per cent.”
Panama took the top spot in this year’s ranking, followed by Mexico, Indonesia, Spain, Colombia Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. The study assesses the expat experience from perspectives such as the quality of life, work environment, standard of living and ease of settling in.
Finland, the authors highlighted, performed well in digital capabilities (6th), and climate and the environment (8th) but faltered in the working abroad (46th), ease of settling in (50th) and personal finances (52nd) categories.
“With a relatively high cost of living (42nd), expats don’t rate their disposable household income as sufficient (51st) and are dissatisfied with their financial situation (53rd),” the press release reads. “The cold climate also extends to social circles, with Finland ranking poorly in the ease of settling in index (50th) and its three sub-categories: local friendliness (48th), culture and welcome (51st) and finding friends (52nd).”
The country fell 23 spots from 3rd to 26th when examining the sub-categories making up the quality of life index: climate and the environment, travel and transport, leisure options, health care, and safety and security.
Riikka Pakarinen, the CEO of the Finnish Startup Community, described the collapse as astounding in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday. “Especially given that we need labour and talent.”
She reminded that already the previous government estimated that the country has to attract roughly 50,000 skilled workers from abroad, usually meaning professionals earning over 3,500 euros a month.
“They produce the biggest benefits for Finland. In the big picture, Finland naturally needs workers regardless of the sector,” she added.
Pakarinen viewed that expats have become less enthusiastic about the country due to the emergence of a debate climate in the past year where immigrants are perceived increasingly negatively. While Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s (NCP) government has adopted a tougher stance on immigration, many of the policy decisions do not necessarily directly affect the possibilities of international talent to find employment in Finland.
What has changed, though, is the social climate, according to her.
“The thinking is that we’re a country with a negative stance on immigration,” she summarised.
Pakarinen argued that the government should recognise the situation and take action to rectify it as soon as the upcoming budget session – by laying out and communicating a clear proposal for measures. Also the Finns Party, the most anti-immigrant member of the four-party ruling coalition, should recognise the gravity of the situation.
“You should be able to tell the difference between situations where people seek to come here on false grounds from the overall situation that most arrivals want to work for the benefit of this society,” she stressed.
“Now you’re throwing out the baby with the bathwater.”
Finland, she reminded, has been one of the pest-performing countries in international studies of the appeal of countries to international talent. “The country image has been good.”
Pakarinen identified as particularly damaging the government bill stipulating that foreign workers must re-employ themselves within three months – or six months, in the case of specialists – in order to retain their right to reside in the country. The bill is scheduled to be presented to parliament in the autumn.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
