Young people want an international working environment – what about companies?

During the early part of 2025, there has also been public debate about the Finnish language skills of international workers. The language skills of those who have moved to Finland from abroad for work have been criticised, for example, by respondents to a survey conducted by the Finnish Association of Family and Home Care Nurses (Super).

In Barona’s annual survey on working life, we ask working Finns for their views on the internationalisation of working life. It is also worth looking at what working Finns think about language skills and the internationalisation of working life in other sectors.

Employees are not afraid of multilingualism

According to the survey, up to 59% of Finns are willing to work in a multilingual working environment or team. In the younger age groups, the figure is as high as 63%. More than half of all respondents are also interested in working specifically with international talent – up to 61% in the younger age groups.

Is it now the case that the attitude of those in work towards international talent has become more positive?

IT sector leading the way – are others following?

I compared these recent attitudes of working people with our autumn survey of employers, in which we asked company decision-makers whether they had noticed that international talent was an attractive factor when recruiting Finns.

Only 26% agreed that international experts are an attraction factor, but the differences between industries were significant. As many as 61% of IT companies agreed, and 44% of transport and storage sector respondents agreed. International staff were also partly considered attractiveness factors in administrative and support services (38%) and professional, scientific, and technical services (31%).

In the IT sector, global recruitment is commonplace and working in English has been the predominant practice for years, but in other sectors the proportion hovers around 30%. So is there a growing awareness of the inevitable labour shortages in other sectors, as well as in IT, and a proactive desire to ensure that there is enough talent?

Scrap the prejudices – you can manage with basic English

Comparing the two studies, I found that employees would be much more interested in working with international talent and in English than is currently possible in practice in companies. Business decision-makers should take into account that employees can be quite open to international colleagues – for some it is even a wish.

I noticed this when we were recruiting English-speaking chefs and waiters for a client in the hospitality sector. After four months of working with our client, I interviewed them and got very positive feedback. I was particularly struck by a Finnish colleague, who had limited English, who was grateful that he could now also learn practical English every day during working hours. They felt they got much help and joy from the language immersion. So you don’t always need a separate English language course; you can also learn in everyday situations.

In another case, the manager of a fast-food restaurant was nervous about speaking in a foreign language beforehand and feared that the work would not go well. However, they started to speak English in everyday situations, such as when driving or even taking a shower, which also gave them the courage to begin using English at work. After that, there was no problem with the language. They initially set the bar too high in their mind and later discovered that basic English was alsouseful in everyday life.

Young people have an international future in the world of work

The Working Life Study reveals generational differences in attitudes towards international talent. Young Finns are interested in working with international talent and in working in a language other than their mother tongue. Among young people, international working life and foreign language workers are seen as an opportunity, not a challenge.

We business leaders, on the other hand, are often over fifty and may be more reserved about international workers. The enthusiasm to speak a foreign language is also lower and declines with age. This is a clear disparity that needs to be taken into account. Company management must create working conditions for young people that are attractive to them. In many discussions I have had, there are signs of a brain drain from Finland to abroad, as young people, especially those with higher education, go abroad to work in search of new challenges.

Now is the time for business leaders to think about how we can create a more international working culture in Finland and ensure that young, talented and enthusiastic employees stay here. Given that many young people dream of working abroad in the future, we should offer them better opportunities to do so in an international working environment at home too.

Otherwise, they may leave to seek an international atmosphere elsewhere. And that would be a serious setback for Finland’s future working life and society.