JHL: The greatest challenge for immigrants working in the social welfare and health care sector is the language

According to Trade Union JHL’s survey of employees in the social welfare and health care sector, successful entry of workers with an immigrant background into the sector’s labour market requires sufficient Finnish or Swedish skills, cultural integration and well-organised onboarding. Supporting structures and a change in workplace attitudes are needed as well.

The respondents of Trade Union JHL’s survey name language skills as the single greatest challenge. Sufficient language skills support employees’ well-being at work, improve safety of patients and clients, and keep everyday life at work running more smoothly. At the same time, different language skills of employees with an immigrant background are an important asset, especially when working with clients who speak the same language.

“Finland is a multicultural country that needs multicultural workforce. The advantages of an employee’s language and cultural skills enhance interaction with clients.”

Understanding the Finnish work culture and ways of working helps in adjusting into the workplace. Integration and onboarding play a key role in this, and enough time and personnel resources need to be allocated for these. The communities at the workplace need to be involved in the onboarding as well in order to reduce prejudice, discrimination and racism.

“Concerns for sufficient onboarding resources were raised in several survey responses. Based on our members’ experience, important considerations in onboarding of employees with an immigrant background include language skills, cultural differences, rules of working life, and interaction with clients. Enough time must be allocated for these”, stresses JHL’s Union Activities Specialist Karoliina Silvennoinen.

“Comprehensive onboarding at the workplace, and enough time for it. Working paired with a colleague as long as is needed for minimising risks. Prejudices at the workplace and ‘reluctance’ to do the onboarding may form obstacles.”

Solutions suggested in the report include increasing workplace-oriented language training, well-organised onboarding, diversity and inclusion training, mentoring, and working in pairs. Key structural challenges include recognition of foreign qualifications, slowness of administrative processes, and improving the working conditions and pays in the social welfare and health care sector.

“Immigrants’ earlier experience should be utilised and valued more. Language learning and integration into society and the workplace should be supported. Work try-outs would provide valuable experience and opportunities.”

JHL stresses that strengthening inclusiveness and cultural competence at workplaces and ethically sustainable international recruiting are necessary in order to make the social welfare and health care sector attractive and fair for all employees.

“Many immigrants may already have a profession, and they could work in it right away, instead of working as a care assistant and studying to become a qualified nurse when they have already graduated as a qualified nurse in their home country.”

Trade Union JHL ran an extensive survey for members who work in the social welfare and health care sectors or in support services for these. The survey charted their thoughts on solving the workforce shortage in social welfare and health care services. The survey was carried out by Innolink and received responses from nearly 3600 members. The number of free-text responses was over 31,000.

More information:

Union Activities Specialist Karoliina Silvennoinen, JHL, 050 477 9066

(The quotes in bold font are translations of free-text responses in the survey.)