International talents in the region

International talents* in our region come from different backgrounds. In addition to family and work-based reasons for moving to the area, students often move to the region to study at our educational institutions or higher education institutions. A lot of highly educated international talents graduate in the social and health care sector, industry and engineering, and commercial fields each year, for example from the higher education institutions in the Vaasa region and Centria University of Applied Sciences.    
According to the MDI report (2020, in Finnish), international migration has played a significant role in increasing the working-age population in the regions of the Ostrobothnia ELY Centre area. Ostrobothnia experienced very significant migration from abroad in particular in the 2010s. Foreign migration to Central Ostrobothnia was more moderate. 

However, there are some challenges in international migration. A significant proportion of immigrants moving to the Ostrobothnia ELY area will remain either temporarily unemployed or outside the labour force. Another major challenge is the migration of immigrants within the country, which may also be linked to the challenges of integrating into the labour market in Ostrobothnia. In particular, Ostrobothnia has experienced significant losses in foreign labour’s domestic migration away from the region, and in Central Ostrobothnia this trend has also become highlighted. Regions should therefore actively invest in the employment and integration of immigrants in the region in order to reduce the number of foreign-language speakers moving out of the region to other regions in Finland (MDI, 2020). 

 

* Talent Boost program perceives immigrants or Finnish returnees as international talents who have competence, international experience and expertise as well as networks that bring added value to society and business life and respond to labour needs. An international talent may be, for example, a foreign student, researcher, posted worker, spouse or returnee. The reason for immigration is not significant; competence is key. A person who has moved to Finland for humanitarian reasons may also be an international talent.