Living and Working in Finland Informa2on for an EU Jobseeker 13.2.2014 Employment and Economic Development Office, Finland
POPULATION: 5.4 million CURRENCY: Euro INTERNATIONAL STATUS: Achieved independence in 1917; member of the European Union since 1995; militarily nonaligned ECONOMIC STRUCTURE: Services 67 % of GDP, industry 30 %, agriculture 3 %; exports account for 39 % of GDP AREA: 338,000 km² (130,500 square miles)
LOCATION: Northern Europe; shares borders with Sweden, Norway and Russia CAPITAL: Helsinki (population 612.000) OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Finnish 90.4 %, Swedish 5.4 % RELIGIONS: Evangelical Lutheran Church 78 %; Orthodox Church 1 %; no religious affiliation 19 %; other religious communities 2 % SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary democracy; presidential elections every six years; Parliament (200 members) elected every four years
GDP PER CAPITA
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Biggest ci)es -‐
number of inhabitants
Helsinki 612 000 Espoo 259 000 Tampere 220 000 Vantaa 207 000 Oulu 193 000 Turku 181 000 Jyväskylä 133 000 Kuopio 106 000 Lah2 103 000 Four seasons -‐ cold winters and warm summers 2012 extremes: -‐42.7 °C (Inari) +31.0 °C (Lieksa)
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Employment and Economic Development Office of Uusimaa, Finland European Job Days 2013 in Porto
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Finnish labour market Employment rate 66,9 % (Dec. 2013) Unemployment rate 7,9 % (Dec. 2013)
76 % of employees work under a permanent full 2me contract 9 % of employees work under a fixed-‐term contract 11 % of employees have part-‐2me contract Women par2cipate in the labour market whereas men. Employment rate for women is 68 % 70% of workers belong to a trade union Labour shortages and unemployment commonly occur simultaneously in the Finnish labour market
Source: Sta2s2cs Finland 02/2013
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Regional labour market situa)on UNEMPLOYED JOBSEEKERS’ PERCENTAGE OF THE WORKFORCE BY MUNICIPALITY ANNUAL AVERAGE 2012 % (number)
Source: Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Employment Service Sta2s2cs 2013
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Language skills requirements Finnish usually required, in some areas Swedish In English may manage for example: IT, engineering, interna2onal business, research seasonal gardening, berry picking, kitchen work
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Foreigners in Finland 3,9 % of the popula2on are foreigners (208 232) Biggest na2onality groups are Estonians (44 652), Russians (30 878), Swedes (8 468) and Somalis (7 590) – 359 Belgians The sectors with most foreign workers are services and construc2on. As seasonal workers in agriculture and forestry 59 600 foreign jobseekers in the TE Offices, which is 8 % of all the jobseekers Source: Sta2s2cs Finland 02/2013, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, 2013 7
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Foreigners in Finland (2012)
50000 45000 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Estonia
Russia
Sweden
Somalia
China
Thailand
Iraq
Turkey
India
Germany
Source: Sta2s2c Finland 2013 8
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Searching for a job Employment and Economic Development Office -‐ vacancies: www.te-‐palvelut.fi Vacancies in the largest newspapers www.oiko2e.fi Academic recruitment services: www.aarresaari.net Companies ohen recruit through their own internet sites. • Typical address is: www.companyname.fi List of 100 largest Finnish companies: www.uranus.fi Private recruitment agencies e.g. www.hpl.fi, www.manpower.fi, www.adecco.fi, www.barona.fi, www.staffpoint.fi Direct contact with employers!
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Standard applica)on procedures CV and applica2on leker -‐ possibly also copies of school leaving cer2ficates and references Examples of CVs: hkp://europass.europa.eu Employers usually choose 3 to 5 applicants to be interviewed Cer2ficates and references will be studied closely For demanding posts usually 2 to 3 interviews will be conducted; also an ap2tude test is possible Some employers make only the final selec2on -‐ the rest of the recruitment process may be outsourced
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Recogni)on of qualifica)ons Finnish Na)onal Board of Educa)on (OPH) Contact before coming to Finland Recogni2on required for posts in public sector Not required for private sector, unless the profession in ques2on is regulated (e.g. electricians, pilots) Right to prac2se profession needed for the following professions: • Health care professionals • Veterinary surgeons • Chartered accountants
• Chartered public finance auditors • Advocates • Seafarers
Different authori2es grant the right More informa2on: www.oph.fi/info/recogni2on
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Terms of Employment Collec2ve agreements specifying pay rates for various sectors If there is no collec2ve agreement (e.g. domes2c helpers), the salary should be at least 1 134 €/month in 2013) Regular working hours are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, with two days' leave per calendar month worked More informa)on: www.tyosuojelu.fi, www.te-‐palvelut.fi/finnwork, www.tem.fi ˃ labour legisla2on Ask for the employment contract in wri6en form! 12
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Taxa)on Income tax: • Up to 6 months: tax at source 35% • More than 6 months: progressive income tax Example: the share of all taxes and compulsory contribu2ons (incl. social security payments 7 %) • Salary 2500 €/month → tax 26 %* • Salary 3000 €/month → tax 29 %* More informa)on: www.vero.fi * Local taxes vary from one city/municipality to the other; members of the Finnish Lutheran/Orthodox church pay a church tax (1 – 2,25%)
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Moving to Finland -‐ First steps
EU registra2on at the local police www.poliisi.fi Popula2on register and home municipality at the magistrate/ registra2on office www.maistraar.fi Social security at the local social insurance office www.kela.fi If employed: Tax card at the local tax office www.vero.fi If unemployed: Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office) www.te-‐palvelut.fi 14
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Accommoda)on -‐ More informa)on Internet portals: www.oiko2e.fi, www.etuovi.com Newspapers: www.sanomalehdet.fi Housing in Finland: www.housing.fi Municipali2es in Finland: www.kunnat.net Youth hostels: www.hostellit.fi
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Employment and Economic Development Office of Uusimaa, Finland European Job Days 2013 in Porto
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Further informa)on EURES portal eures.europa.eu Ministry of Employment and the Economy www.tem.fi Foreigners working in Finland www.te-‐palvelut.fi/finnwork www.infopankki.fi Studying and prac2cal training in Finland www.studyinfinland.fi General informa2on on Finland www.thisisFINLAND.fi 16
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Interna)onal student mobility Finland has 14 universi2es and 24 polytechnics Over 500 study programmes are taught in English in higher educa2on ins2tutes In 2012 appr. 10.000 students came to Finland, mostly from Germany (1431), France (1216), Spain (895), Italy (505) and Russia (474). Belgium 322. 89 % of the interna2onal students are generally happy or very happy with their Finnish ins2tu2on of higher educa2on and study in Finland Finland is one of the most popular des2na2on countries for exchange students (10th among 31 countries) Source: Centre for Interna2onal Mobility CIMO 2013
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Centre for International Mobility
CIMO
Centre for International Mobility CIMO • established in 1991 • operates under the Finnish Ministry of Education • promotes cross-cultural communisation and mobility in training, education, working life, cultural field as well as among young people
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CIMO’s year 2012 • total budget 45 millions • number of personnel 112 • 33,1 millions distributed as scholarships • 28 300 participated in different programmes • 1,4 million visitors in CIMO’s websites
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Studying in Finland www.studyinfinland.fi
First steps • Find the right programme • Check the entry requirements • Check how and when to apply • Plan your finances • Visas and student residence permits • Student accommodation
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CIMO FELLOWSHIPS Scholarships for Post-graduate Studies • Primarily for post-graduate students invited to a Finnish university to complete a doctorate thesis or a double degree. • Scholarship is €900-1,200/month and duration 3-12 months. • Applications submitted by representatives of Finnish universities. Rolling deadline. • Regional priorities in line with CIMO’s strategic priorities: Russia, China, India, Chile, Brazil and North America.
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FINNISH GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIP POOL Scholarships for Post-graduate Studies • For post-graduate (post Master’s degree) studies and research in Finnish universities and public research centres for students from outside Finland. • Scholarship is €1,200 /month and duration 3-9 months. • Individuals apply through authorities in their home country. Application deadlines may vary from country to country. • Scholarships are based on Finland’s cultural agreements, cultural exchange programmes and bilateral scholarship programmes with 13 countries: Australia Egypt India Israel Japan
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China Namibia Republic of Turkey Korea Ukraine Cuba Mexico Mongolia
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Other sources of funding
• http://www.scholarshipportal.eu/ • organisations and foundations that specialise in your own particular scientific field • Erasmus Mundus scholarships
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On the Study in Finland site you will find a lot of useful information about: • Finland as a study destination • Finnish higher education institutions • English-language study program database • Scholarships • Admissions system • Living in Finland
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Useful information • • • • • •
www.cimo.fi www.studyinfinland.fi www.universityadmissions.fi www.tem.fi http://www.soa.fi/en/ www.thisisfinland.fi
• www.finlande.be Embassy of Finland in Belgium • https://www.facebook.com/FinnishEmbassyBrussels • https://twitter.com/FinEmbBrussels
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Think Finland.
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EXPERIENCE / INGENUITY / COURAGE 17/02/14 THINK FINLAND
© TE-palvelut 2012