Report: Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection have been well received in Finland, language skills are key to finding work

By the beginning of September 2023, more than 60,000 Ukrainians had applied for temporary protection in Finland. The report offers information on the employment, use of employment services and future plans of Ukrainians as well as the receptiveness of the Finnish society.

The report is based on surveys of Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection, employers, employment services and organisations. Interviews and group discussions were also organised for the report.

As a whole, Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection responding to the survey were satisfied with the services they used in Finland. Of the respondents, 40 per cent said they had registered as unemployed jobseekers at public employment services. Slightly over half of the respondents were satisfied with public employment services.

According to the Ukrainian respondents, the most significant obstacles to employment were deficiencies in language skills and education and the fact that their qualifications were incompatible with Finnish requirements. The respondents said that, in particular, they would be interested in working in industry, trade or food and beverage services in the future. 

More than half of the employers who responded to the survey had hired Ukrainians due to an acute shortage of labour. To employers, the lack of language skills was the most significant obstacle to recruiting Ukrainians. The most important factors promoting employment were the readiness to do any work and some, even basic, language skills.

Beneficiaries of temporary protection feel that they have been received well in Finland. Most respondents have not faced discrimination in Finland. The majority of the respondents said their intention was to live in Finland permanently, while one-tenth said they would live here for the time being. Around one-third of the respondents could not provide an answer. Approximately one-fifth of those surveyed had plans to relocate within Finland and slightly under one-tenth planned to return to Ukraine or move to another country.

Owal Group Oy carried out the report on behalf of the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

A summary of the report has been published in Ukrainian and Russian as separate appendices.

Inquiries:
Juho Peltonen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 119
Risto Karinen, Director, Owal Group, tel. +358 50 535 1820