Kaleva: Ensiksi insinööri unelmoi siivoojan paikasta

Kaleva: Ensiksi insinööri unelmoi siivoojan paikasta 29.1.2010

65 Degrees North: Who´s counting on a job in 2010?

Oletko koskaan huomannut laitossiivoojaa, joka juuri painelee kärryineen ohitsesi. Hän voisi olla Andy, joka toteuttaa unelmaansa. Jos britti nimittäin saisi himoitsemansa siivoojan paikan ja sattuisi vielä oikeaan aikaan oikeaan paikkaan Oulussa, niin hänen kykynsä voitaisiin löytää. Sellainen onnenpotku olisi esimerkiksi, jos spektrianalysaattori hajoaisi juuri hänen mopatessaan vieressä. Ohjelmistoinsinööri Andy rientäisi apuun ja korjaisi laitteen.

Oululainen 65 astetta pohjoista -verkkojulkaisu raportoi vastikään Andyn ja muiden täkäläisten niin sanottujen expatrioottien eli maahanmuuttajien tapaamisesta. Aiheena oli työllistyminen. Työpaikkojen puute kalvaa kaikkialla, mutta ulkomaalaisilla on vielä syntyperäisiäkin vaikeampaa löytää töitä. Edes koulutus, EU-kansalaisuus tai sekään, että osaa suomea, eivät tunnu nostavan hänen mahdollisuuksiaan.

Helsingin Sanomissa oli äskettäin yleisökirjoitus, jossa suomalainen sairaanhoitaja kertoi ihanasta uudesta elämästään Kanadassa. Hänkin oli maahanmuuttaja, mutta palkka ja edut olivat paljon paremmat kuin Suomessa. Perheellä oli varaa jopa omakotitaloon.

Niin Kanada kuin Britanniakin hoitavat maahanmuuton aivan toisella otteella kuin Suomi. Kun meillä kadunmies yhä samastaa maahanmuuttajat turvapaikan anojiin, niin todellisissa maahanmuuttajamaissa tulokkaista valitaan parhaat päältä.

Muuttajat ovat pohjimmiltaan yritteliästä väkeä. Rikkain britti esimerkiksi oli Forbesin mukaan intialaissyntyinen teräsmagnaatti Lakshmi Mittal, joka on saneerannut koko joukon tappiollisia tehtaita kannattaviksi. Kanadassa taas miljardöörien kärjessä komeilee kiinalaisperäinen, koulunsa kesken jättänyt Li Ka-shing, joka aloitti yritysimperiuminsa muovikukista.

Pohjoisessa maahanmuuttajat ovat edelleen harvassa. Pohjois-Pohjanmaalla on sisäministeriön tietojen mukaan 4 500 ulkomaalaista ja Kainuussa heitä on 1 500. Olisikin syytä pitää ihan onnenkantamoisena sitä, että nuoret maahanmuuttajat vaivautuvat näille leveyspiireille.

Jorge tuli vapaaehtoisesti, vaikka olisi voinut yhtä hyvin jäädä Espanjaan tai muuttaa vaimonsa siistiin kotimaahan Itävaltaan. Näiden sijaan hän valitsi opiskeluajoilta tutun Oulun. Se tuntui koko perheelle parhaalta paikalta. Opettajana hän sai jopa töitä.

Oletko koskaan kuvitellut, miltä Sinusta tuntuisi siirtyä vieraaseen maahan, missä raivaisit uudisasukkaana tietä ennakkoluulojen keskellä.

Yli 10-vuotisen emigranttiuden ja myös maassamuuton koettuani tiedän, että on taatusti helpompaa jäädä syntysijoilleen vahtimaan omia oikeuksiaan. Muutto vaatii rohkeutta, riskinsietokykyä ja jatkuvaa aktiivisuutta. Vähin, mitä voi toivoa, olisi siis ystävällinen kohtelu. Sen sijaan itse koin joukon nöyryytyksiä - ohjelmallisesti - viranomaisten edessä.

Mahdollisesti kantaväestön ennakkoluulot ja pelot kohdistuvat vieraaseen toiveikkuuteen ja energiaan, jota maahanmuuttajat säteilevät. Lannistamalla urheakin uudisasukas pakotetaan perussuomalaisten riviin: Minä en ole mikkään ja enkä vähän päästä sekkään.

Maahanmuuttajallakin on lupa ja oikeus elää Suomessa. Jospa siis auttaisimme häntä tyhjiöstä edes tutustumalla uuteen naapuriin. Se ei maksa mitään. Aloitteen voi tehdä vaikka kiinalaisten uutena vuotena, kahden viikon kuluttua.

___________________________________________

65 Degrees North: Who´s counting on a job in 2010?

For many expats in Oulu the year has started off with a major New Year’s resolution, namely to do everything possible to find a job!

The question is of course; how do you find a job if the understanding of Finnish is limited and you just learned to say “kiitos” to the chap behind the counter, who looks at you curiously as he returns your ID card when you pay for your groceries?

It’s overcast and the darkness has set in on January 13, when a group of 17 job seekers and people interested in the topic, pop in at the premises at Sepänkatu to discuss recruitment problems and possibilities in Oulu. The meeting is organised by The Seven, a spokes group on foreigner issues, the Red Cross and Oulu Expat City. “We hope for creative ideas,” says Dasse Bohui from Ivory Coast softly. “We´d like to increase the chances of finding work ads Miriam Attias from the Finnish Red Cross.

People from different nationalities, between the age of 25-53, men, women, white, black, noisy and quiet, tall and small with different languages and different concepts of time enter the room somewhere between 15.45 and 16.15. At first sight, it seems, they´ve nothing in common. However, after a cup of coffee and an introduction round it becomes clear there are commonalities. All have at least a university degree and all are committed to improving the employment possibilities for foreigners in Oulu.

Some of them, like Joe from the US have had jobs now and then or there´s people like Andy, who lost their job during the lay-off wave that started with the economical recession sometime ago. Others, mainly foreign exchange and degrees students are looking for a part time work to be able to pay their bills or just to save money for the flight back home during the holidays.

A staggering 8.7% unemployment for Finland compared to Holland 3.7%, Austria 4.7 % or Slovenia 6.2% in 2009 according to data from the European Union Website. At the other end of the spectrum countries like Spain 19.3% and Latvia 20.9% have the highest unemployment rate in Europe. The latest numbers from the EU website forecasts that the unemployment rate in Finland will rise to 10.9% this year.

Prospects for the employment in the Oulu region are not optimistic. I call Mrs Parhainkangas from the Regional Employment Centre and ask for local statistics. The latest numbers for the unemployment rate in “Pohjois Pohjanmaa” are 12%, she says.

“For foreigners in the City of Oulu the numbers are higher, somewhere around 37%" says Dr. Mannan from Bangladesh "In the region are about 1300 foreigners looking for work."

“The problem with these numbers is always, that they are a bit skewed,” says Emmanuel, a Pakistani software developer, when we discuss the unemployment rate. In Finland, for instance, people who go to courses organised by the regional employment centre aren’t counted as unemployed. “But they aren´t employed either.”

“Were you aware of the high unemployment rate before you arrived?” I ask, remembering my own optimistic thoughts about finding work when I came to Finland. There’s an unanimous NO in the room. “I never looked it up,” says dark-haired social worker Dila stirring her coffee. “I wish I had.”

“What services do you need to assist you with finding work?” is one of the questions prepared by “the Seven.” A group of five persons sit apart to discuss the options. The University should offer career services or at least point you in the right direction for part time work,” they claim. “It would be great if the city would advertise summer jobs in English on their website” they add.

Another group discusses how and by whom the employment of foreigners should be promoted. “Efficient coordination!” they write in red fat letters on a poster. “We think city authorities should coordinate and employ foreigners to take care of the promotion of employment says French Elise shyly after she´s been encouraged to share her thoughts with the rest.

“The Finnish language is a huge barrier towards getting a job,” says Muhammad, a Pakistani graphic designer while he looks around for approval. “It’s good that you understand the necessity to learn some Finnish” comments Marguerite from France.

“Becoming fluent in Finnish doesn´t help one bit,” replies Brent an American event manager, reluctantly.

The discussion becomes lively with personal stories and experiences.

“I applied for a job at the International school but they told me they only take English native speakers,” says qualified Nigerian schoolteacher Lucia during the meeting.

“I’m desperately in need of a part time job for my stay in Finland. I have a financial crisis in my hands right now,” writes an expat from Africa.

“I was hoping for a cleaning job with a well-known local outfit, in Technology Park” states British software engineer Andy. “Why? Chance to do a bit of networking. See a bloke struggling with a spectrum analyzer, I drop my mop and bucket and explain how to do it. Gets noticed..."he dreams on.

Being jobless is one thing but being a jobless expat can be daunting and the frustrations are clear as I realize listening to the stories. I know from my own experience how unemployment can eat away your self-esteem. Lack of language skills, networks and knowledge about local, administrative issues become big issues in a foreign country.

Sometimes, I meet newcomers who think they can make a quick score on the local job market. After a while they tell me, with frustration that Finnish is a big hurdle and that doors stay closed if you don´t speak it. “And tiny free-lance jobs are non-existent,” they complain. For those newcomers who think you can compare Oulu with some other European cities where at least you can make money by cleaning, baby sitting, dish washing, or mail delivery jobs, the stay in Oulu becomes an unexpected financial nightmare, I know.

Two hours later we round the meeting up with a better understanding of the needs, a new network and the agreement to stay in touch and work together on a decent plan to increase the employment possibilities for foreigners.

After the meeting I go back to my office and read the posters. “Lacking information, no network or practical support and the lack of experience of Finnish employers in working with foreigners are typical recruitment problems”, I read.

I stick it to the wall in my office and read another poster: Help from Recruitment agencies, an online service in English and a job fair, it says in firm handwriting.

I look at the posters, try to prioritize the points and think of possible solutions for the 1300 unemployed foreigners in “Pohjois Pohjanmaa”. Start with something simple and controllable I say to myself. The only benefit of being unemployed is that it gives you time to build a network. I decide to put “networking” on top of the list before I move on to the next item.