“They told me to apply for cleaning jobs”: skilled immigrants guided toward low-level work
Research shows that migrants in Finland are often seen as “ideal workers” for care and service roles, reinforcing their channeling into these sectors.
Summer Ashraf Abounar
Sercan Alkan
Published 14.11.2025 at 4:21
Updated 14.11.2025 at 4:34
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When Umer Javaid arrived in Finland from Pakistan, he expected his years of experience in logistics and supply-chain management to help him continue his professional journey. He came with his wife, who was completing a master’s degree in international business. While she continued her studies, he struggled to find work that matched his qualifications and ended up applying for jobs that were far below his level.
“At the employment office, they told me to apply for cleaning jobs,” Javaid recalls now.
“Even when I explained my background, they said the only training available for foreigners was in cleaning. When I asked for help finding something in logistics, they said I had to look by myself.”
Javaid holds a master’s degree in logistics and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering, with nine years of experience in procurement and logistics. Yet his job applications received no responses, and the employment office could not offer him alternatives that matched his background.
After a year, he decided to return to Pakistan, where he quickly found a managerial position.
“Finland has no opportunities for non-Finnish people,” Javaid says plainly.
Integration courses and limited options
Finland’s integration courses are designed to help newcomers learn Finnish, understand society, and find employment. They typically combine language learning with vocational training, often in collaboration between local employment services and educational providers.
Satakieli interviewed five immigrants living in different parts of Finland who described a similar pattern: being guided toward a narrow range of jobs in cleaning, care work, or support services, regardless of their qualifications.
Data supports their experience. Dr. Elli Heikkilä, Research Director Emerita at the Migration Institute of Finland, has analysed national data showing that almost one in three employed immigrants (30 percent) work in jobs below their level of education and skills.
In smaller regions outside the capital area, such as Kainuu and North Savo, the share was 29 and 27 percent, respectively.
“Overeducation poses a key challenge for a functional labour market,” Heikkilä says.
Many educated workers are unable to use their skills fully, which weakens both their career prospects and the overall efficiency of the labour market.
The phenomenon, known as “brain waste,” reflects structural barriers that prevent educated immigrants from using their expertise, Heikkilä says.
“According to my study, some highly educated refugees were employed in clerical, service, or manual jobs far below their qualifications.”
From language lessons to physical labour
Anisa Al-Sabri, from Yemen, spent ten years working in IT before moving to Finland. According to her, the integration experiences differed between cities.
“In the small town where I first lived, courses started quickly and were good,” she says.
“But when I moved to Tampere, it was very different. I waited six months before the classes started.”
The teaching quality was also inconsistent.
“The classes were often taught by volunteers rather than trained teachers. They focused on grammar and rules, not on practising the language or speaking.”
The situation became more difficult during the work-training part of the courses.
“Most of us were sent to cleaning, cooking, or elderly care,” Al-Sabri says.
“We worked hard physically, but no one spoke to us in Finnish. When someone said they were there to learn, not just to work, they got a bad evaluation.”
According to Al-Sabri, she presented her degree in software engineering to the employment office but was told that her Finnish must be at native level to use her qualification.
“That made me feel that we have no real options.”
Labour market affects integration courses
Until 2025, Finland’s employment and integration services were handled by national TE Offices. Under the new employment reform, these responsibilities have shifted to 45 municipal employment areas.
Tiina Mäenpää, Director of the Northern Central Finland Employment Area, explains that integration and vocational courses are designed jointly by employment services, vocational schools, and training providers.
She acknowledges that sectors such as health and social care are emphasised but says this reflects labour shortages rather than bias.
“Our aim is not to push,” Mäenpää says.
“We want to offer realistic and supportive options that can lead to stable employment while respecting each individual’s background and preferences.”
Mäenpää adds that Finnish language learning is increasingly integrated into vocational training, particularly in care work and logistics, to support both communication and job readiness.
A wider pattern across Europe
Research in Finland shows that these experiences reflect broader structural issues rather than isolated cases.
According to Dr. Nilay Kılınç, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki who studies labour market integration among highly skilled migrants, gendered and racialised patterns shape how migrants are channelled into certain professions in Finland.
“Migrant workers are overrepresented in health and social care, administrative and support services and accommodation and food services. Women are often subject to occupational segregation that channels them into affective labour,” Kılınç says.
Affective labour refers to work that requires emotional effort — such as caring, comforting, or maintaining a positive attitude — as part of one’s job.
“This is not unique to Finland but occurs across the EU, where migrant women face a double disadvantage stemming from both gender and migrant status.”
Kılınç’s research shows that even highly educated migrants frequently end up underemployed, taking jobs far below their qualifications.
“Highly educated individuals also struggle to attain jobs in line with their education, expertise and career goals in Finland. They experience periods of unemployment or settle for jobs below their qualifications, which lead to de-skilling,” she says.
“Language is often used as a gatekeeper, but the real issue lies in unequal recruitment practices and limited recognition of foreign credentials.”
Kılınç emphasised that labour market integration should not stop at finding any job, but at enabling career growth and fair treatment.
“Collaboration between municipalities, universities, and employers could create more career-oriented programmes, from mentoring and networking to fair hiring audits and transparent job criteria.”
Dr. Kılınç’s analysis echoes the frustration voiced by Anisa Al-Sabri and other job seekers interviewed by Satakieli for this article.
“We are not uneducated,” Al-Sabri says.
“We just need a chance to prove it.”