Stricter migration and asylum policies making it harder to find jobs in Finland

Since 2023, migration policies in Finland have gradually tightened. This is making lives of migrants unstable, and existing discrimination in the job market is adding to their challenges. It has become really difficult for migrants to find jobs in the country.

The first barrier is probably the language. For international job seekers in Finland, the job market’s high language requirements often represent a lot of hurdles. This is true even for vacancies that don’t offer a sizeable compensation.

The ruling coalition government in Finland has significantly tightened migration and asylum policies. The rules for family reunification, financial aid for asylum seekers, and detention and deportation of rejected asylum seekers have become more stringent.

Immigrants need to go the extra mile for jobs in Finland

Speaking to InfoMigrants, one helping Finnish companies hire talent said that a long-standing problem for the private sector in the country is the lengthy process of getting permits for their international hires – a responsibility of the Finnish Immigration Service.

Her clients have expressed particular concerns about the government trying to introduce a time limit for international employees to find fresh employment after being laid off – either in three months or half a year once the amendment takes effect, possibly next year.

The hiring process in Finland takes quite a lot of time. Company usually have up to 5 rounds. Even locals reportedly need more than six months to find another job. So some call it entirely unrealistic that the international have to get a job in just three months.