Of the immigrant entrepreneurs interviewed in this study, over half have Asian backgrounds. The majority of the immigrant entrepreneurs have established their businesses during the new millennium, and the average time between moving to Finland and starting a business is nine years. For one-half of the entrepreneurs, one source of motivation for opening a business has been the desire to work independently. Several entrepreneurs report having started their businesses because they had not found paid work.

One-third of the interviewed entrepreneurs are in the commercial sector. Others represent education, construction, industry, health work, personal services, business services, repair work and restaurant business. Three-fourths of the entrepreneurs are satisfied with the success of their business. Entrepreneurs in the areas of construction, industry, hired labour, dental services and language training view their business to be successful. The entrepreneur in hairdressing, those in restaurant business and especially those in retail consider their situation less successful.

Immigrants are defined as foreign citizens living in Finland or Finnish citizens of foreign backgrounds. Interviews of 20 immigrant entrepreneurs shed light on their characteristics, motivation, and personal experience of being immigrant entrepreneurs in Turku.

Responses to a questionnaire for employers in Turku-situated offices (not including the self-employed) clarifies how employers perceive immigrants as workers, and whether they view immigrants to be an asset due to their foreign backgrounds.

Ministry of Labour. Labour Policy Studies no. 318.

The use of ethnic resources in the immigrants' entrepreneurship does not seem particularly prominent. Furthermore, for the majority of entrepreneurs who recruit additional workers, hiring immigrants is not a special goal. Stronger grounds for hiring are Finnish language proficiency, along with work experience and professional skill. However, eight entrepreneurs have hired immigrants outside the family at some point during their entrepreneurship.

The response rate to the employers' questionnaire was 24.2 percent. The 269 responding employers chiefly represent Finnish private businesses. One-third of all respondents represent insurance, research, and other business services. Slightly over one-half of the offices employ fewer than 10 persons in Turku.

Of the offices that responded, 43.5 percent (117 offices) have had experience with immigrant employees. Slightly over 80 percent of offices have at most five immigrant employees. Public organizations
have employed immigrants more often than have private businesses, and large offices more often than small. Offices representing education, industry and public administration all have more experience than on average of immigrants.

Immigrants as professionally skilled employees are found in the greatest share of offices that have hired immigrants (45.3 percent, or in 53 offices). In 47.9 percent of offices that have hired immigrants, at least one immigrant has had a permanent contract. Nearly 60 percent of the offices that have hired immigrants have made some temporary contracts with them. The offices consider the most significant form of recruitment to be the independent contact from potential employees.

The factor that most often determines an immigrants' hiring is training received in Finland, mentioned as grounds for hiring of 47.9 percent of the immigrants. According to 40 percent of employers with experience of immigrants, immigrants are hard-working and enliven the workplace. Slightly over 40 percent report that the problems of finding immigrants assignments and helping them become accustomed to the workplace both relate to language difficulties.

Twelve percent of employers report that they are hiring an immigrant into a Turku office in the future. The majority (78 %) of employers are unable to answer with certainty about hiring immigrants in the future. Finnish language proficiency, which 23 percent of the employers in the data mention, is especially expected of potential immigrant employees. Nearly one-third of the employers believe that an immigrant to be hired should have a basic education.

Employers with experience of immigrant employees have been chiefly satisfied with their performance. So far, however, the number of immigrants as entrepreneurs and in firms has been so low that based on this study's results, one cannot conclude that immigrants currently fulfil their potential as a resource to businesses and organizations.

Ministry of Labour
P.O. Box 34
00023 Government
Finland
Phone: + 358 10 60 4001
kirjaamo.tyoministerio@mol.fi
http://www.mol.fi

21/09/2006

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Heli Sjöblom-Immala

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Integration of social groups

Ethnic minorities