The employment statistics speak for themselves. “There are many jobs that are difficult to fill,” says Juha Martikainen of Statistics Finland. In practical terms, this means that “there are no applicants for these jobs,” says Martikainen.

Where have all the qualified applicants gone, one may well ask? Some, it appears, have left Finland to pursue careers in other countries. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) says that there are more educated Finns moving out of the country than coming back.

ETLA studies also indicate that this trend has slowed, and that it has not increased in the past few years. This conclusion is supported by a study released by the Organisation for Economic Co-opearation and Development (OECD), whose report shows Finland to have only the 7th lowest rate of “brain drain” compared to other OECD countries.

Many leavers pursue a lifestyle

Risto Haataja (no relation to the writer of this article) is an example of the Finns who left and who have also returned to live in Finland. An accomplished chef, Haataja left the country many years ago and moved to Australia. “I didn’t want to move to a classical gastronomic country, but rather to a place where I could enjoy warmth and sunshine,” he says. “I chose Australia because I had heard such good things about it, and I wanted my children to learn English in a native environment,” he continues. After living in Brisbane and then in the Gulf of Carpenteria in northern Australia, Haataja gained the experience of all the aspects he expected to find there, and decided to return to Finland.

“Having come back to Finland, I first worked with a catering company, and then realised my dream of applying some of the business principles I learnt overseas by starting my own chef’s service called Kokkisirkus,”, says Haataja (Kokkisirkus is Finnish for Cook Circus). He believes that the experience he gained abroad was invaluable, and taught him to look at business and opportunities in a different way.

Anneli Waller has lived in Canada for many years and is now considering moving back to Finland. “I am a hairdresser, and have wanted to come back for a while, mainly because I want the slower pace that exists in Finland,” she says.

Difference with immigrants moving to Finland

The propensity of Finns to move based on lifestyle changes is not shared by most migrants moving to Finland. Putting it bluntly, for most it is a decision related to financial, if not personal wellbeing.

ETLA says in its study that most immigrants to Finland have a low level of education, but with the disclaimer that the statistics relating to education are not well kept. Some 22 per cent of migrant intakes to Finland are from Russia. Traditionally known to have a workforce with a high level of education, there seems to be a significant misuse of the resources that arrive here.

A Statistics Norway study concluded that approximately 34 per cent of Russian migrants to Norway have a high tertiary level of education. Levels of education are recorded more stringently in Norway as compared to Finland. This is an alarming fact in Finland where there are jobs that do not have any applicants. The brain drain is not a serious issue here. What is more serious is how we use the existing resources in this country.

Risto Haataja - HT