Case of Finland

The above sections have laid down a basic and generalized understanding of brain drain and wage differential around the globe with respect to different theories. However, in order to study the practical implication of these phenomena and see the actual impact on the immigrants, there is a

need to investigate the case study of a selective country with real data. Since this thesis is focusing on Finland, the following section will dig into the literature of Finland labor market and the need of international migrants there.

2.5.1 Need for immigrants in the Finnish labor market

While analyzing the need of immigrants in Finnish labor market, Heikkilä (2017) states that there is a desperate need of labor in Finland, as the number of ageing population exiting the labor market (60-64) is higher than the number of young population (20-24) entering the labor force. According to the statistics of Finland, this need of labor will increase in the long run as it is estimated that by 2030, the working age population will decrease by 59% (ibid.). This difference between ageing population and young workers can only be compensated through migrant labor force.

The report published by Interior Ministry of Finland (2018) states that the labor shortage will be experienced in almost all the major sectors of Finnish economy in the long run. For instance, in the software sector, the expected shortage of workers is 15,000 skilled workers in 2020.

The report states that the advantages of Finland in attracting the skilled migrant workforce and to prolong their stay include: “a secure and stable society, well-functioning public services, including our globally known and recognized education system, accessible and versatile cultural services as well as children’s day care, healthcare and social welfare” (Ministry of the Interior Finland, 2018, p. 21).

In short, Finland is in dire need for international migrants in the labor market due to growing ageing population. Further, it is one of the most developed countries in the world, so this accounts for a major pull factor for brain drain. For the sake of this thesis, the next section will focus on brain drain of international students in Finland and observe their trend.

2.5.2 International degree students in Finland

As explained in section 2.2.5 of this thesis, the global trend of international students’ migration is increasing day by day. Batalova (2007) mentions that due to the arrival of the Balagona process, the mobility of international students in Finland also increased. The Balagona process was launched in 1999 by the Ministers of Education and the university leaders of 29 European countries in order to enhance the higher education system in Europe (ibid.). Batalova (2007) refers to this process as a means of ‘brain gain’ in Europe.

Laine (2016) reports in her book that the international students’ statistics showed a sharp rise in Finland, from 8,442 in 2004 to 19,138 in 2012. The main nationalities of international students were Chinese and Russian in 2012. Table 1 depicts that many new developing countries like Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have played a significant role in the international student mobility in 2012.

Table 1: Top ten nationalities of international students studying in Finland in 2004, 2008 and 2012

The most popular field of study of international students in Finland was ‘technology and traffic’, where 39% of the students were enrolled (Laine, 2016). Similarly, when the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture conducted a survey to know the expected turnout of the students in 2020 in different fields, the result showed a significant increase of 20% in technology and traffic (ibid.).

Hence, here it has been established that Finland has been attracting more and more migrants from the developing countries especially in terms of international students and the brain drain has been increasing. Within the international migrant students, the most famous field is Information &

Communications Technology (ICT). Now, the next section will investigate the integration of these international students in the Finnish labor market.

Source: (Statistics Finland database, 2014)

2.5.3 International students in Finland’s labor market

The research conducted by several scholars and institutes concludes that most of the international degree students prefer to stay in Finland after their graduation as they foresee a better quality of life there (CIMO, 2014; Laine, 2016). Laine (2017) reports that according to the statistics of 2009, fifty-one percent of all the international graduates were working in Finland within one year of their graduation, 48% were working within three years, while 44% within five years after their graduation. Laine (2017) believes that the financial crisis of 2008 has deteriorated the employment opportunities for graduates, both national and international previously, however, with the passage of time, the situation has been improving. According to the statistics of 2014, the number of unemployed graduates was 4,772, which rose to 4,911 in 2015 and further increased to 5,206 in 2016 (ibid.). However, according to 2017 figures, the number has decreased to 4,722 (ibid).

Further, Laine (2017) explores that finding a proper job is difficult for international students as compared to Finnish students because of two reasons. Firstly, the language barrier is the major factor in limiting the opportunities for international students. Secondly, the unavailability of contacts of international migrant students becomes a hindrance in finding good opportunity. With only two years of exposure of studying in Finland, they are unable to increase their network (ibid.).

In a nutshell, there is bright future for international students in the Finnish labor market, however, they struggle to find appropriate opportunities owing to different limiting factors. ICT being the most popular major among the international graduate students in Finland, this thesis would narrow the focus down on the ICT and provide details of the ICT sector in the Finnish labor market.

2.5.4 ICT sector in Finland

Hirvonen (2004), describes that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector of Finland has been the leading sector of the economy despite recession during the 1990s. He further claims that without the stronghold of the ICT sector, Finland would not have been able to overcome the financial recession. Also, ICT contributes to a major chunk of GDP share in Finland’s economy. All in all, this sector has a strong base in Finland.

The demand for ICT specialist in Finland has risen steadily over the past few years. Figure 5 shows that the demand for IT specialist in almost all the OECD countries is above 3% (OECD, 2015).

Whereas, Finland has the highest ICT employment percentage compared to the ICT employment in all other OECD countries in both the years, 2011 and 2014 (ibid.).

Figure 5: Employment of ICT specialists in OECD countries 2011 and 2014

In summation, Finland is one of the attractive destinations for international students and migrant workers, especially in the ICT related fields. This sector had been the blooming sector even during the major financial crises and globally also, Finland has a well-established reputation in this sector.