Municipalities receive special grants for Talent Hub activities that promote the Talent Boost programme
The budget proposal for 2021 includes a EUR 2 million discretionary government grant in item 32.30.40 (Supporting sustainable growth and vitality in the regions) for Talent Hub activities that promote the Talent Boost programme. In addition, EUR 262,200 has been allocated to such activities in 2020.
Municipalities with at least 15,000 foreign language speaking residents are eligible to apply for these grants. The grants will cover up to 70% of the project’s eligible costs. Applicants are expected finance 30% of the project costs themselves. In joint projects, all applicants are required to contribute to project financing.
The grants will promote the objectives of the Talent Boost programme in cities. Talent Boost is an cross-administrative immigration programme coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture for professionals, workers, start-up entrepreneurs, students and researchers. It focuses on skilled workers who are instrumental for the growth and internationalisation of Finnish companies, and for RDI in the leading growth sectors. It also targets sectors suffering from a labour shortage. Its objective is to make Finland a significantly more attractive destination to skilled workers and their families. Read more about Talent Boost.
The discretionary government grants will be used to support the development of Talent Hub cooperation models and services, in particular. Talent Hubs are regional cooperation models that offer customer-oriented, cross-organisational service paths to make it easier to attract and recruit international talent and to support their settlement and integration. Talent Hubs also provide services that bring employers and international talent together.
From 27 January to 22 February 2021, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment organised a call for applications for special discretionary government grants to promote Talent Hub activities under the Talent Boost programme in cities. The Ministry has decided to allocate the grants as follows:
• EUR 345,000 to the City of Espoo for the implementation of the Talent Espoo project.
• EUR 942,990 to the City of Helsinki for the implementation of the Talent Helsinki project.
• EUR 389,925 to the City of Tampere for the implementation of the International House Tampere project.
• EUR 369,965.85 to the City of Turku for the implementation of the Talent Turku project.
• EUR 213,465 to the City of Vantaa for the implementation of the Talent Vantaa project.
The projects will run until 30 April 2022.