The region of Satakunta, like others in the country, is facing high labour shortages and a demographic crisis. Studies show, however, that immigration could be paramount to limiting the damage. This is also the strategy defended by the Regional Council of Satakunta, through its Strategic Program for International Competence and Immigration, where a parallel is created between the departures of people from Satakunta, and immigration as key to maintaining a level of competitiveness with the rest of the country.
In times of global trends and labour shortages, supporting and offering employers the best low-cost and low-risk opportunities to take their first step becomes paramount. The employment of internationals is a major part of the strategic program of the region with which SAMK is fully able to collaborate with the high numbers of eager international students willing to work for our local companies.
Employment in Finland is hindered by a labour shortage of skilled employees as well as the ageing of the population and low birth rates. These mean risks for the overall stability of the country. Seeing as Satakunta is a major attribute of Finnish industrial export, it is of national importance that the vitality of the county is maintained or even improved.
The strategic program offers immigration as one key solution to keeping the county afloat. Though the immigration rate is lower in numbers than the departure rate from locals, it is the main element likely to balance the situation. When immigration is key to the overall vitality of the region, strong steps need to be taken to help the integration of immigrants.
Our International Facilitator supports international students
SAMK has hired an International Facilitator within the Research Center for Human Functioning. The goal of our International Facilitator is to facilitate access to work for international students within Satakunta by supporting them in their search for internship placements, offering them a better knowledge of the employment opportunities in the region, or helping them create a network and know the local companies.
More than offering companies an opportunity to get a first experience working with internationals, hiring international students for internships, providing thesis subjects and giving them a part-time job will be key to retaining them in the region post-graduation which is an essential part for the vitality of the region, and the country. We must keep talents formed and trained here, rather than losing them to other countries. Hiring international students is reported to bring different benefits, such as cultural awareness, language and technical skills, and increased retention rates. Living in a global world, having different cultures and languages in a company should only be seen as an extraordinary opportunity. According to Business Finland, hiring internationals can increase productivity, expand the market areas (networks and clients) with a reported better opportunity for growth than for companies that did not hire internationals yet.
Part of the International Facilitator’s job will be to interact with companies and help them experience working with internationals through internships and hopefully hire international students after graduation as well. Other universities of Applied Sciences, like SeAMK (Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences) – with which SAMK is collaborating - have already started this kind of work and seen positive results.
Further than merely keeping international students in the region, the work of the International Facilitator also strengthens the collaboration and ties between SAMK and the local companies, while also supporting the networking efforts of students. Increasing cooperation between companies and students allows students to showcase their skills and motivation.
Did you know?
- The Regional Council of Satakunta published numbers gathered by the chosen partner MDI Public Oy. In the current state of migration towards other regions of Finland (mainly Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa and Southwest Finland) the population of Satakunta would decrease by around 23,200 people, or 10,9%, by 2040. At present (2024) the population of the county is around 216,750 people. On a parallel, only about 40% of international degree students remained in Satakunta a year after their graduation.
- The goal for the Strategic Program for International Competence and Immigration is to see the level of net immigration triple from 640 to 1,920 immigrants per year by 2040.
- There are over 1000 international degree students from 100 different nationalities studying at SAMK. In the spring of 2020, SAMK reported that the total number of separate applications to international degrees had risen from 334 the year before to 379 applicants. In the spring of 2022, SAMK reported 2,520 applicants to international degrees making a total of 4,519 applications to different degrees, while there were 1,369 applicants recorded in the spring of 2021. These numbers demonstrate the need for more support in helping a rapidly growing number of international students find internship placements and get better chances of remaining here post-graduation.