The new Match made in Finland mentoring program supports the integration of university students into Finnish working life. Skanska and YIT will gain valuable experience for the construction industry from the first program. The experiences of the program participants have been compiled into guides for future mentoring programs.
In the first meeting of the Confederation of Finnish Industry, companies and universities of applied sciences Match Made in Finland The program involved ten companies, four universities of applied sciences and 90 students.
"Finnish society is based on trust and cooperation, and networking is particularly important for success. Good relationships and trust are key factors that support the integration and success of international students in Finnish working life," says the project coordinator about the background of the program. Minna Vidgren From the European Commission.
A common challenge in the construction industry is to get international experts interested in our field.
“In administrative positions, attention is often focused on experts with a foreign background who already have a degree from another country. We wanted to help these students integrate into Finnish working life and society. At the same time, we learned something ourselves in a program where we collaborated with other companies,” says Skanska’s HR Business Partner. Timo Piili.
"Within a ten-year time cycle, we can already see that with the predicted demographic development in the construction industry, there will be a shortage of skilled workers for white-collar positions. It is very important that international university students can do internships in companies and get into Finnish working life. Success in this requires close cooperation between companies and universities," says RT's education policy expert Saku Lehtinen.
Social responsibility is an essential part of the program, and the goal is to promote diversity and equality in Finnish working life. International students highlighted in their feedback that Finnish language skills play a key role in working life and job opportunities.
"Just ten years ago, digitalization did not enable the same things that we can achieve with artificial intelligence today. It would be important to examine whether we require too perfect Finnish in expert positions on construction sites or whether digitalization could help tackle language proficiency requirements," says Lehtinen.
For Skanska, the mentoring program gave them a better understanding of the challenges faced by international students and new insights into what are the attractive factors in Finnish culture.
“We were mentored by a great group of students from different backgrounds. A big insight was especially the discussion about the pull factors more broadly, i.e. why they are interested in working and living in Finland. Our competitive advantages compared to other countries are a functioning society, nature and safety. I also dare to say that those Skanska employees who got to know the group will understand and dare to work with international experts better in the future,” Piili says.
EK's Match Made in Finland mentoring program offers international students opportunities to become involved in Finnish working life while strengthening the diversity of companies and breaking down prejudices.
See also
More information
Construction Industry RT, education policy expert Saku Lehtinen, tel. 040 041 2057 or firstname.lastname@rt.fi
EK – Confederation of Finnish Industries, project coordinator Minna Vidgrén, tel. 0400 603 409 or firstname.lastname@ek.fi