Ready for Talents

RDI Platform: Smart Business, Smart City, Smart Industry, Smart Well-Being

Language: Finnish, English

Project description

Finland and Ostrobothnia will need foreign labour, as there will be around 130 000 fewer people of working age by 2030. Student and labour immigration is necessary due to the ageing population and the low birth rate. The availability of talent has been identified as one of the major challenges for the growth and internationalisation of companies and other organisations, and further for Finland’s competitiveness. The attraction of foreign talent to our enterprises strengthens and internationalises business and innovation activity and supports the attraction of international investment to Finland, further contributing to job creation.

International talents should be integrated into working life already during their studies. For this to be possible, employers need to be able to
to recruit and retain international talent. In particular, the capacity of SMEs to recruit international talent needs to be improved. This is evidenced by the poor placement of international students and also international graduates in SMEs on the export coast of Ostrobothnia. The project will create a permanent model and, through pilot enterprises, encourage other SMEs in the region to recruit and support the establishment of international talent.

Goals

The number of international students is expected to multiply in the coming years. This is due to the shortage of talent resulting from the demographic development of the country. Our societies are still in some cases poorly equipped to support the settlement and employment of international talent. SMEs account for 93% of our enterprises and play the most important role in attracting international talent through employment.

At the annual Young Talk 23 event organised as part of the Wasa Future Festival, the theme was International Talents and SME´s. The event summarised two issues: a) SMEs lack the capacity to recruit international talents and b) international talents do not recognise the employment opportunities offered by SMEs during their studies. Based on these results, previous knowledge and experience, and international becnhmarking work, the aim is to test a new approach and model for the employment of international talent in SMEs.

The goals of the project are:

• Design and implementation of a scanning model for international recruitment and placement support for SMEs as a mobile application
• Strengthening the capacities and capabilities of SMEs in international recruitment and establishment support
• Communicating the know-how on international recruitment of SME talent and the specificities of the diversifying company through various means (peer learning, events, podcast series, articles) with the aim of encouraging other SMEs through the example of the pilot companies
• Increasing the number of international students and talents as an asset for SMEs in the region

Results

The project will result in a model for scanning the international recruitment capacities of SMEs (implemented through a mobile application). The model can be used in the future both by companies already employing international workers and by companies considering attracting and recruiting international talent. The project will produce a coaching programme that will be piloted and the lessons learnt can be used in the future to modify it to meet the development needs of companies. The maturity level of the pilot companies and, further on, of the SMEs on the export coast in employing international talent will develop and our international talent will increasingly be placed in SMEs in our region and remain an asset to our region. The pilot companies will act as a Ready for Talents reference group and will commit to act as a model company in their region for an agreed period of time after the project has ended