Around 3,000 jobseekers take part each year in the integration training organised by Helsinki Employment Services, an intensive programme of roughly one year delivered in Finnish or Swedish. Research cited by the city links integration services to higher incomes, with benefits reaching the second generation. According to the city, around 95 per cent of the growth in the number of people in employment in Helsinki this century is thanks to immigrants.
How the training works
Alongside Finnish or Swedish, the programme teaches workplace and civic skills that support employment, further study and participation in society. A study by the OECD and the EMN names a lack of Finnish or Swedish as the biggest barrier to employment for people integrating in Finland. Clients can take the initial language test within a couple of weeks and receive a course invitation within about a month. The course requires 35 hours of lessons and homework per week, and students should finish with a concrete plan for moving on to work or further studies. Around a third of clients hold a higher education degree, while roughly one in ten lack literacy skills.
The service path has three steps:
- Assessment of skills, language, work experience, goals and needs, leading to an integration plan.
- Services such as multilingual civic orientation and the integration programme.
- Moving on to work, further study, skills development or other services.
Results for participants and their children
Language proficiency is assessed against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
| Group | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Participants with a higher education degree | Nearly nine in ten reach at least B1.1 |
| Groups progressing at a slower pace | Half reach A2.2, a third reach B1.1 |
Studies published by the VATT Institute for Economic Research in 2016 found that, ten years later, participants in integration services earned around 47 per cent more than a control group. A follow-up study by Aalto University found that children of parents who completed the training had a higher average mark on the comprehensive education certificate and, as adults, earned around 7,000 euros more than the control group.
What comes next
Responsibility for integration services has been transferred from central government to local authorities. Helsinki now aims to identify clients’ needs more effectively, offer more personalised solutions for finding work and strengthen cooperation with employers. The work sits within the city’s Development Programme for Migration and Integration 2026–2029, approved on 22 June by the City Board’s Economic Development Sub-committee. The city has around 150,000 residents of foreign origin, 22 per cent of its population.