Repeatedly dubbed the happiest nation on the planet with world-beating living standards, Finland should be deluged by people wanting to relocate – but in fact it faces an acute workforce shortage.
“It’s now widely acknowledged that we need a spectacular number of people to come to the country,” recruiter Saku Tihverainen from agency Talented Solutions told AFP.
Workers are needed “to help cover the cost of the greying generation”, the recruiter explained.
While many Western countries are battling weak population growth, few are feeling the effects as sharply as Finland.
The government has warned that the nation of 5.5 million needs to practically double immigration levels to 20,000-30,000 a year to maintain public services and plug a looming pensions deficit.
Finland might seem like an attractive destination on paper, scoring high in international comparisons for quality of life, freedom and gender equality, with little corruption, crime and pollution but anti-immigrant sentiment are also widespread and the opposition far-right regularly draws substantial support during elections.
Credit: rfi.fr
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