Helsinki (17.06.2002 - Juhani Artto) Thousands of Finnish nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and other health care professionals are currently working abroad. The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals - Tehy estimates that there are about 6,000 of these workers, which is a sizeable percentage of the total trained labour pool in the sector.
More than a third of these 6,000 work in Norway, slightly fewer in Sweden, and a growing number in the UK. Tehy information officer Katriina Vasama reports that the organisation’s rank and file are employed in some 140 countries.
Nobody knows the exact figures for Finnish health care professionals employed abroad. Even the present trends remain unknown, but Vasama believes that the number exercising this option is hardly decreasing.
While there are also nurses of foreign origin in the Finnish labour market, their number does not really balance the outflow of Finnish professionals, as immigrants in the sector are counted only in hundreds.
Under the pressure of labour shortage in their health care systems, Norway and Sweden attract Finns with better pay and less stressful working conditions. Net salaries can be 20 to 30 per cent higher than in Finland. Of great importance compared to Finland is also the proper staffing of health care institutions in Norway and Sweden. In Finland the average stress level in health care jobs is higher than in any other work. Vasama has heard Tehy members describe their work periods in Norway in terms of "taking a breather", after the heavy workload that they have experienced in Finland.
During the recession of the early 1990s one obvious reason to leave Finland was lack of employment opportunities. Many professionals also found that seeking work abroad was no longer a great leap into the unknown, as nowadays many have undergone mandatory on-the-job training in other countries. Younger professionals in particular appreciate the chance to gain experience from working and living abroad.
Norwegian and Swedish employers have been actively recruiting in Finland for several years. The Swedish language educational institutions have been targeted especially strongly, as most of their students are already native speakers of Swedish. This also provides a sound basis for working in Norway, where employers have readily organised and financed any necessary further language training.
Besides Tehy, several other unions organise nurses and other health care professionals. Under the SAK umbrella the Municipal Workers Union has thousands of health care workers in its rank and file. These unions agree that the pay level of the entire health care system in Finland must be raised to reinforce the labour market competitiveness of Finnish health care organisations. At the same time the serious overburdening of employees must be discontinued by establishing more jobs in the sector.
At the other end of the international rotation of health care professionals, many Estonians are attracted by the opportunities in Finland, as pay and working conditions in the ultra-liberal Estonian system are far worse than in Finland.