Good Stories.
GOOD STORIES IS ALL ABOUT:
Decreasing unemployment
In the beginning of 2023, there were about 260 000 unemployed job seekers in Finland. There are many job seekers in this group who are motivated but need support to obtain employment. Our mission is to offer this support as much as we can. Getting a job changes a person's life in many ways. Currently there are around 30 000 unemployed immigrant job seekers and in Finland, which represents 11% of the total number of job seekers in the country. Our goal is to decrease this number one by one and create a brighter future for those who are ready for it.
Finding a job can be exhausting for Finland-born job seekers, and even more challenging for immigrants due to language limitations and prejudice. Immigrants are often thought of as a single entity, despite having diverse life stories, skills, goals, and dreams to discover. Having a job and being able to care for oneself can be a source of motivation for many immigrants to participate in society. Based on research, there is an ethnic hierarchy that is validated in the Finnish labor market. In order to get a job interview, a person of Iraqi background must send three times more job applications, and a person of Somali background four times more job applications than a person with a Finnish background, even if all applicants have the same education, work experience, and Finnish language skills (Ahmad, 2019).
Reducing the labor shortage
Finnish working life is undergoing a transition. While it is often deemed unfavorable to approach things negatively, it is crucial to comprehend the realities and context of the current Finnish working life. Several sectors are facing a crisis due to a shortage of labor. Technology industry organizations consistently report a requirement for tens of thousands of professionals. Although the healthcare sector's severe labor shortage has been known for a long time, the public sector is slow to respond. Finland is confronting a labor shortage crisis, which is mostly self-inflicted by the society.
Companies should review their recruitment methods, assess the importance and necessity of their criteria, and consider the possibility of changing their practices. Frequently, Finnish companies have strict language requirements that prioritize Finnish speakers, thereby limiting employment opportunities for professionals who primarily work in English. However, companies could support their existing Finnish-speaking staff in learning English to avoid unnecessarily jeopardizing the company's operations and growth due to language limitations in recruitment opportunities. When engaging in recruitment, it is essential to keep in mind the company's strategy, goals, opportunities, and weaknesses. The primary objective of recruitment is to support the company's operations.
Transforming the Finnish work-life
To summarize the above, Good Stories is about identifying possibilities that have not been explored yet. There are numerous simple and effective ways to enhance Finnish working life, from both an individual and societal standpoint. Developing new operational models and strategies requires perseverance. It also requires the capacity to confront challenges adeptly and implement tangible changes, one person and one organization at a time. We want to write Good Stories.