A recent government report highlights that young adults with foreign backgrounds born in Finland are less likely to secure employment than their peers from Finnish backgrounds. Amid a challenging job market individuals with immigrant roots are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain positions that match their educational qualifications.
Published: 11/07/25 | 16:27
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment young people born in Finland to immigrant parents are more often unemployed, not participating in the labor force and enrolled in education less frequently compared to native Finns. Statistics Finland defines individuals with foreign backgrounds as those whose parents or sole known parent were born outside Finland.
Minna Säävälä, who is a lead specialist in the ministry’s integration unit emphasized the importance of understanding how these young adults navigate work and education: “From a future perspective a key question is to understand this dynamic and how they manage work and education here.”
Since the early 2010s the number of children and youths with foreign backgrounds born in Finland has been steadily increasing. There are now at least 15,000 educated individuals aged 18 to 29 with immigrant backgrounds who grew up in Finland and are fluent in Finnish.
In fact the population of Finnish-born people with immigrant roots has tripled in the past decade rising from 30,000 to 90,000. Most of them live in the Helsinki metropolitan area which also offers the most job opportunities. Regardless, Säävälä emphasized that expanding employment chances beyond the capital region would be beneficial.
Even educated Finnish-speaking job seekers with relevant experience can be overlooked in the hiring process due to assumptions tied to their names. For instance Jamila Mohamud who now owns a café previously worked in civil engineering and contributed to the Western Metro extension project.
In one job application despite her fluency in Finnish she received a rejection stating that the position required Finnish language skills. Although recruitment discrimination has decreased somewhat in recent years Säävälä said it still occurs too often. “Let’s hope the positive development continues in the future,” she added.
Sagal Dualeh, who is a native Finnish speaker and second-generation immigrant is currently on a study break and hopes to become a doctor. She and a friend founded a group that supports women with immigrant backgrounds. Dualeh says that Somali girls in particular face intense societal expectations. Her mother who arrived in Finland at a young age has worked as a nurse and in other roles.
“My mother made sure that we kids ended up in upper secondary school,” she said.
According to Statistics Finland’s 2023 data people with immigrant backgrounds are most commonly employed in healthcare roles. Many also pursue training in retail although securing jobs in that field proves more difficult.
Sakariye Ali who is 26 is currently studying social services at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Vantaa. Originally from Somalia and raised in Kenya he moved to Finland as a teenager to join his sister. Before his studies he worked in numerous jobs starting with flyer distribution and later as a cleaner, ship cleaner, car factory worker, retail employee, taxi driver and security guard.
Ali completed his military service in Finland and admired the sense of equality he experienced there. “During military service I was proud to be a Finnish citizen. Everyone dressed the same, ate the same food and followed the same rules. People advanced in their roles based on hard work,” he explained.
However, after military service he noticed a difference in opportunities compared to his Finnish-born roommate. “He immediately had better opportunities than I did,” Ali said.
Ali now chairs Somali Students of Finland which is an organization he helped create. He noted that many students with immigrant backgrounds are contemplating leaving Finland if fair access to jobs remains limited.
