The number of international students in Finland has increased significantly in recent years, at the same time as the outlook for the forest industry and the employment situation for highly educated professionals have weakened. This has highlighted the need to better understand the integration, employment and willingness to stay in Finland among international graduates.
Finland educates motivated international talents who are often already interested in the field and want to work here. But why do so many of them leaving Finland after graduation, and what factors influence this?
This question was examined in a recent master’s thesis commissioned by PI, which included a survey targeting international technology students focusing on the forest industry, student associations in the field and companies within the forest industry. The thesis was conducted by Noora Salmela, a materials engineering student at Tampere University.
Interest exists – barriers slow down employment
The results show that there is genuine interest in staying in Finland. As many as 80% of the students who responded to the survey consider it likely to have employment in the Finnish forest industry. However, the reality is more complex. Employment proves to be a key barrier, influenced by several factors.
The requirement for Finnish language skills emerges in nearly all responses. While language proficiency is considered important, reaching a sufficient level takes time and support is often lacking.
Another key factor is the lack of networks. In Finnish working life, personal contacts and informal networks play a significant role, but for international students, building these networks is often challenging, and their starting points differ. In addition, some students perceive recruitment and job application processes as unequal or even discriminatory. Both unconscious and conscious biases and attitudes play a role.
The study period, which at its best could serve as a bridge to Finnish society, does not always support this goal. Contacts between international and domestic students often remain limited, and student associations do not reach everyone. This directly affects integration: without social networks, professional connections and an understanding of Finnish working life are also lacking. This creates a situation where the willingness to stay exists, but the possibility do not.
Solutions require collaboration from all
What should be done? The simple answer is that everyone has a role to play. The situation cannot be solved with a single measure. It is the result of multiple interconnected factors, and therefore effective solutions also require contributions from all parties and cooperation between different actors.
International students need to be proactive—for example, by participating in events, networking, developing job-seeking skills and studying Finnish from the beginning of their studies.
Employers, in turn, need to take a critical look at their recruitment practices, especially language requirements, and offer more low-threshold opportunities such as summer jobs and thesis topics.
Student associations can act as an important bridge by building connections with companies and developing their activities to be more inclusive and more considerate of international students.
An opportunity not to be missed
This is not a single issue but the combined effect of multiple factors. Therefore, solutions are not individual measures but require long-term collaboration and a willingness for change across the entire sector. International students are not merely a resource. They are an opportunity, one that will partly determine the future of the Finnish forest industry, which depends not only on technology or investments, but above all on people.
The key message of the thesis is clear: there is plenty of information about the challenges, what is needed now is action. If Finland wants to retain the talent educated here, the barriers to integration and employment must be systematically removed.
More detailed insights into the background, results, recommendations and conclusions can be found in the thesis HERE.
Overview of the master's thersis HERE.
Text: Noora Salmela