?? Finland’s Grey Wave and Proposed Changes to Immigration Rules ??
Voima Ventures
Voima Ventures helps founders accelerate the growth of deep technology ventures to global markets.
As Finland's population ages, the imminent "Grey Wave" poses a significant workforce challenge, with Finland being listed as one of the top 5 fastest aging populations in the world by the UN in 2019. According to the population projection by Statistics Finland, in 15 years, there will be no regions in Finland where the number of people born will outweigh the number of deaths at current birth rates. Because of this, Finland's population will start declining in 2031, and will be around 100,000 lower than today by 2050.
Innovation and Talent: Key to Success
According to the same Statistics Office, the number of immigrants arriving to Finland was 49,998 in 2022, which is a forecasted shortfall of 50% for the future working age population.
To address the demands of an aging workforce, Finland must embrace innovation and consider international talent as a valuable national asset. With a smaller workforce, optimising current processes becomes paramount when dealing with a crisis of this nature. Innovation of this kind requires attracting international talent to the country, not rejecting it.
?? Policies and Incentives: Keeping Finland Competitive ??
领英推荐
For Finland to maintain its allure to foreign nationals, forward-thinking policies and incentives are crucial. It's time to acknowledge the challenges posed by current government proposals, as they may not be serving the country's best interests in the coming decades. Attracting international talent is vital to sustain Finland's economic growth and ensure its long-term vitality.
Traditionally hard line immigration countries like Japan have announced new, relaxed immigration reforms to address a similar national problem, and from 2022 the country has considered expanding programs for workers with specific skills from 12 key sectors like ship building and construction, which rely heavily on innovation in high tech, science based developments to remain globally competitive.
It is essential to approach proposed changes to Finland's immigration laws pragmatically, considering their potential impact on an already imminent demographic collapse. These new proposals should be viewed through the lens of a future, prosperous nation and carefully evaluate their implications, instead of short term, party centric political lines.
By prioritising the development of forward-looking policies and creating incentives that appeal to foreign nationals, Finland can strengthen its position as an attractive destination for entrepreneurs and help turn the tide of an dwindling population. Embracing international talent is not only an economic necessity but also an opportunity to enrich our society with the required perspectives and skills to face these national challenges.
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1 年Well put: embracing international talent is beyond economics, its enriching society with new perspectives, and skills and I would also add, co-creating new cultures of being together, relationships and breaking the Finnish social void from both locals and foreigners suffer (E2 tutkimus says so). With so many recommendations and ample amount of research on immigrant's impact, it definitely is clear: all voimas are needed from outside and inside the country to help avoiding collapse of a functioning state: healthcare where Finnish children are sent to Denmark for heart surgeries due to labor shortage, no regular metro due to labor shortage, daycare and edu crisis due to labor shortage. This list could go on. Another huge existing ssue is employing people of various ethnic backgrounds with Finnish or foreign degrees, simply overlooked or not treated as professionals. On a bright side, obstacles can be turned into frontiers, here are 14 stories and recommendations shared by internationals themselves in "Finland a country of Not belonging" pamphlet co-produced with two professional unions Tekniikan akateemiset TEK Suomen Ekonomit #weworkforFinland - Link: https://www.ekonomit.fi/en/news/pamfletti/