Finland Creates New Subcategory for Immigrants

Doctoral candidate Quivine Ndomo believes that the excuse of not having adequate Finnish language skills is often used when employers are reluctant to hire immigrants. He reached this conclusion after seeing his Kenyan friends with university degrees working in low-wage jobs. Ndomo’s thesis, defended at the University of Jyväskylä, titled “The Working Underclass: Highly educated migrants on the fringes of the Finnish labour market”, delves into this issue.

In his research, Ndomo interviewed 51 non-EU immigrants, predominantly black Africans, to investigate how the Finnish immigration administration and integration institutions shape immigrants into a workforce subordinate to the Finnish labor market. He found that a new subcategory has emerged in Finland, where immigrants from third countries, regardless of their education, often end up working in low-wage fields. This is partly because immigrants are not informed that Finnish language skills are usually required for jobs, even though the studies can be completed in English. Ndomo suggests that studies should include mandatory Finnish courses.

However, even having Finnish language skills doesn’t always guarantee better job opportunities. Ndomo finds that language skills are sometimes used as an excuse for not hiring immigrants in their area of expertise. He suggests that the expectations of Finnish society towards immigrants should be reconsidered if Finland truly wants to integrate immigrants into society.

Furthermore, Ndomo believes that the system benefits Finnish society as it provides low-wage workers for jobs like caregivers, cleaners, and delivery drivers. This became evident when tax data for 2022 showed that the highest earners were executives of companies like Wolt, which rely heavily on immigrant labor.

While Finnish students also take up low-paying jobs during their studies, immigrants often continue in these jobs even after they graduate. This, according to Ndomo, is usually because they need money or a job contract to renew their temporary study permit. He suggests that Finland should reconsider its migration goals and ensure that immigrants can find jobs in their field of study. He is currently working at the University of Jyväskylä, but his contract ends in 11 months and he has no plans after that.

Though he loves Finland, Ndomo has considered moving to countries that offer longer work contracts and where English is widely spoken. He is determined to continue his career and will go wherever he can to do so.