I almost missed a meeting today, which is uncommon for me. It was with employment services, who I have to meet with every three months or so, because I am technically part-time unemployed, because my own business activity only covers part time hours, if that. However, the person assigned to me knows that he is unable to help me find employment anyway, so we ended up just talking about his own business endeavours. And failures. After all, he is working for the government and trying to help people find a job. So, business isn't exactly booming for him.
But like me, he is a foreigner with a non-white background, and understands that if he ever wants to have an average life in Finland, he has to do more than the average Finn. This is because opportunities are far more scarce, as well as there being no generational network and wealth to provide support. For a foreigner to be average, they have to do what Finns won't. And that largely comes down to stating some kind of business, where there is risk and a high chance of failure.
But what we were mostly talking about is risk aversion based on background. For a lot of foreigners who move anywhere in the world, they do so for some kind of "better life" reasons, which means they have recognised that wherever they are from, it is not enough. This doesn't necessarily mean having to come from some war-torn country, it could just be that the lifestyle or culture just doesn't align as well, or there aren't the career opportunities available, or they fall in love with someone from elsewhere and move to be with them.
But no matter the reason, it seems to end up being that the immigrant is likely to be less risk-averse than the locals. This is somewhat of a selection bias though, because the person willing to move from a known environment into an unknown one is already likely to be more risk-seeking. And this is likely more true for the people who haven't been forced to move due to societal disruption.
This means that the foreigners are more willing to try something new (often out of necessity for a decent income), but without inside and bureaucratic knowledge, network, language and a host of other conditions, are also more likely to fail when they try. While a local who has a higher chance of success due to more favourable conditions, is less likely to even try. And they are less likely to try because they are more comfortable and have a network, meaning that trying and failing becomes a risk both for their current comfort, and their ego.
The employment situation in Finland is the worst it has been since the 2008 Financial crisis, and it isn't looking up any time soon. This is largely because Finns who are good at saving money, are pretty bad when it comes to taking investment risks, which means investments haven't been made into really growing the economy through innovation. Which is pretty bad, for a country full of engineers and highly skilled people who have innovative knowhow. Instead, the country keeps trying to save its way into wealth, by cutting services and taxing people more. It is a losing strategy, but because it is what Finns currently know, it is what they keep doing.
Hardship drives innovation.
Need is one thing, but hardship is a massive motivator, because we are wired for comfort. If we keep changing our definition of what comfort is, and keep accepting lower and lower levels of it as comfortable, we keep staying "safe" even as things get worse. But if we say, enough is enough, we have the need to do something differently, to grow, rather than contract. No one wants hardship or pain, but it is a great motivator to encourage different approaches. However, what we should recognise is it is possible to make the changes before things get too painful that it forces change. We can instead try and fail when the risks are low, rather than after we are painted into a corner.
While the employment prospects are bleak, I am hoping that I am able to wrangle some more business work in the new year to cover the shortfall, and perhaps a bit extra. It is far from certain and I will probably fail, but the only other option is to keep accepting more and more discomfort as normal, until there is nothing left at all.
Taraz
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I don’t know how much you follow Finnish politics, but the current government led by Petteri Orpo promised voters that they were going to “fix” public spending and debt. And to do that, they started cutting literally everything.
What actually happened is that these cuts pushed people out of their jobs and terrified the rest of the country. People are scared to lose their jobs now, because the government has also cut so many support systems that falling into unemployment basically turns your life into hell. So people stopped spending and started saving, not because they want to, but because they have to. They don’t trust the benefits system anymore.
And when people stop spending, companies collapse. More and more Finnish businesses are either shutting down or firing workers because the customers simply aren’t there.
On top of that, trade with Russia has basically halted. Russia used to be Finland’s biggest trading partner, and that suddenly disappearing wiped out a huge amount of income and jobs.
So what Finland actually needs now is a new government that reverses the damage. The current cuts have been genuinely bad for the economy, and instead of the 100,000 new jobs the government promised, we have lost around 40,000. Unemployment is close to 10% right now.
And of course, this hits my own finances too, because I mainly work with Finnish companies. So yeah — fantastic. What a time to be alive. But that’s the reality on the ground.
Pretty closely. Occupational hazard.
The Orpo cuts are part of a long term problem, exacerbated by the rampant spending on nothing useful during Covid, which was on top of the terrible response to the 2008 GFC. The governments have been very anti-invest for two decades, and when they do invest, they invest into useless.
People are also to blame though, because they put to much thoughtless faith in the government, as if it is infallible. They keep looking at it as if it is what it was forty years ago, without recognising the global influence.
The Russia thing was a big hit of course and not just trade, but also production that was there, like Nokian Tyres new factory.
Over 10 now. Worst since 2008/9.
Yes, which is my issue too. Even as I pick up some work in one area, I lose it in another due to internal cutbacks and layoffs.
The magic that Finland had was always based on one thing: governments invested in people. Education, healthcare, social safety nets. That was the whole foundation. Finland never became successful because the state invested in companies. That is not even what governments are supposed to do. Their job is to build an environment where both people and companies can flourish.
Right now, that environment is collapsing.
The current government is not just making long-term adjustments. They are wrecking the basic structures that held the country together. I just saw a TikTok yesterday showing that the new unemployment support next year will be something like 287 euros per month. Two hundred eighty-seven euros. For a whole month. That is not welfare. That is a punishment.
And that is exactly why people are terrified. Finland used to be a safe haven: predictable, stable, humane. Now it is not. People are saving because they have to. They know that if they fall even slightly, there is nothing left to catch them. And when people stop spending out of fear, the whole economy shrinks, companies go under, and even more jobs disappear.
It is not about Finns having too much faith in the state. It is that the state literally changed its role. It went from protecting people to abandoning them. And everything else is just downstream from that.
But they invested into conditions where people had the right skillsets to be in companies, and thrive in general. In the last decades, they have been more populist, putting money into handouts, and education into nothing that is in demand. Lots of meaningless degrees. Now because of all the past failures, the current government has to continue on the path of more failure. More unnecessary useless debt, whilst cutting spending in areas that matter. It doesn't matter which party is in, the result is the same.
I completely agree, but I have been saying it for 20 years already. It is inevitable, because they have taken the approach they have, and it is just a slide down. It will get much worse.
The state is the people, the people the state. People can make a difference, but instead they spend their time arguing over and caring about useless topics instead.
You should read this about the state of the education in Finland, it gives clear picture what has been happening since 2003
https://brokenchalk.org/challenges-in-the-finnish-education-system/
Since 2003 education has not faced nothing but cuts and it shows. Right now they are taking what's left of it. There has not been handouts, 90's were the golden era of everything.
Can you clarify what exactly are useless topics?
Thanks for bringing some insight about the new working culture of Finn...but unable to understand if they are good at saving money but not at investment, then what they do with the saved money? do they invest on themselves or just keep stacking
That's a very good question. If they save for investment, whether on themselves or business that's nice, but saving for saving's sakes is absurd.
They tend to put it into savings, but in the last couple decades, they are venturing into investing also. However, they are pretty much only going to invest into Finnish companies, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in the past, but is a bit of an issue at the moment.
Four day weekend for me! It's Thanksgiving!
Have a great one mate!
Was chatting with a friend here from the US and they were heading out for a steak dinner to celebrate. Not quite traditional, but better than nothing.
Haha no, that isn't traditional at all, but if that's what they love then why not! It was a really great evening. I didn't do myself any favors when it comes to the scale though!
Finland is missing out on one of the secrets that elevated the US to be the top nation in the world as far as growth and progress is concerned, and that is offering equal opportunities to everyone, including foreigners. That means selection for a job opening is based purely on merit rather than one form of favoritism or the other.
This approach is particularly effective, because like it or not, some foreigners are going to to outperform others in certain fields, and when you give them a chance to utilize that skill and competence the country progresses.
But then it hits me that the US could afford that because it's a massive capitalist economy and opportunities there are nearly endless, so to speak, compared to smaller nations like Finland.
Still, I think there should be a balance
between giving the choicest of the opportunities to natives and giving them based on merit to competent foreigners.
I hope you're able to make something lucrative for yourself next year or so. I wish you good luck in that.
The US is fast backtracking on that though.
And they went on a massive debt model, which will weaken them eventually, unless global war breaks out.
An interesting thing I learned today is that the foreigners working pay more tax than the Finns working.
This is the debt that drives it. Other countries should stop trading with the US, and start investing into local development, using a little more debt to drive consumption from everywhere else, but the US. Cut off all the digital platforms.
It is very sad that the country is full of engineers and highly skilled people. But nowadays it is seen that many states cannot utilize their human resources properly, due to which these people migrate to other countries but due to lack of opportunities within the country they cannot participate in the development of the country's infrastructure. If the state cannot properly utilize those who have innovative knowledge for a country, then it is a complete failure for the state and the government. Many times it is seen that these people migrate to developed countries due to lack of opportunities or proper supervision.
The states are nearly all failing. Centralised control kills innovation.
Im not an immigrant but a someone who is in developing country and has friends who have moved to foreign countries , from their experiences that they share with me, this is such an honest breakdown of what it means to build a life as a foreigner. People see the move but not the risks, the lack of network, or the constant need to work twice as hard just to be “average.”
And behave twice as well, and still be seen as below average.
If everyone could shift their way of thinking together, it might open up a lot of opportunities for all parties involved, immigrants and local people.
Absolutely. But instead, people have been conditioned to fight at the surface layers, so the fundamental systems below can keep milking everyone of value and dignity.
Need is one thing, but hardship is a massive motivator
what a statement with so much powerful voltage. Once our mindset os been wired to take low productivity as normal we gradually become lower gradually accepting the low standards. From the time past, I mean in the early ninety's it was the high rate of hardship that caused a breakthrough into different innovation and creativity ideas prompting so many machines of today that increases human productivity and efficiency @tarazkp
Truly a mere need isn't enough to prompt out that inner creativity in we humans except a level of hardship strikes hard then automatically the brains clock it.
It is the same for everything. The more we soften our experience, the softer wee get. Real innovation and entrepreneurship takes balls.
This part about foreigners having to work twice as hard really hits home. When you arrive in a country with no network, no family support, and sometimes not even the language, every small achievement takes huge effort. I think many locals don’t see this invisible weight. But like you said, hardship shapes us into people who take chances, even when the chances are slim. It’s not because we’re brave, but because the alternative is to slowly sink.
The sad thing is, and what people attempting need to understand, is no matter how hard you try, most people will fail to make much of an impact. But, it is still a better life to fail, than to settle in low-key comfort.
If you ask me, trying stuff before it becomes desperate makes more sense than just waiting for a crisis to force your hand
Unfortunately, humans are pretty senseless...
Unfortunately, Facts right there 😒
I think that's settling for average, needs some mindset shift to break free from such mentality, and it'll take someone who thinks outside the box to correct that.
Life's all about risk, playing safe won't bring the desired change.
It's the prespectives I suppose after all 😁
In United States foreigners are frequently more successful than those born here. Probably because of the desire to achieve more and ability to take higher risks.
It is a very easy to achieve better life environment even now. Lots of money in the economy and no major corruption other than at highest levels...
Yikes, that's a pretty grim picture you paint over there. Not what I would expect for being the happiest country in the world! :)
Thanks.