How Hiring Immigrants is Revolutionizing Customer Service in Finland

Seventeen percent of Finnish businesses have hired immigrants, significantly enhancing workplace inclusion and customer service. According to a Yrittäjägallup survey, among companies with ten or more employees, half have employed immigrants, while one third of those with 5–9 employees have done so. Sonja Antosalo from the Federation of Finnish Enterprises notes, “Employing immigrants has helped businesses grow. For example, staff attitudes have become more inclusive.”

The survey highlights that hiring immigrants improves businesses' ability to serve diverse customers, enhances the workplace atmosphere, fosters innovation, and helps companies find the talent they need. Harri Jaskari, also from the Federation, emphasizes that the role of immigrants is often overlooked in Finland and that competing Finnish and foreign workers is counterproductive.

Positive experiences were notably reported in Eastern and Northern Finland, where 75% of respondents expressed satisfaction with hiring immigrants. The majority of immigrant hires occurred in the Helsinki metropolitan area (22%), followed by Western Finland (18%) and Southern Finland (17%). Jaskari points out the significant need for foreign workers in rural areas and low-skilled roles, stating that for some rural businesses, these workers are crucial for continued operations.

By sector, industry employed the most immigrants (44%), followed by trade (18%), construction (17%), and other services (16%). However, challenges remain, with language barriers and understanding workplace rules being the most common issues. Antosalo stresses the importance of clear instructions to overcome these barriers. The industrial sector faced the fewest challenges, while construction reported the most, with nearly 46% of businesses encountering issues.

This survey was commissioned by Yrittäjien Verianilla and included responses from 1,054 representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, conducted between 7–13 November 2024, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.