Interviews with 1206 immigrants found that they have a more positive view of work, workplace atmosphere and human relationships in the workplace than do their native Finnish co-workers.
However, immigrants also tend to have more part-time or occasional jobs and a lack of proficiency in Finnish or Swedish can easily be a hindrance in navigating the job market.
Ari Väänänen, a researcher at the Institute of Occupational Health, notes that the upbeat results of the survey were unexpected. He says that there may be a number of reasons for the positive views expressed by many immigrants.
"Finnish management is traditionally regarded as being good. In addition, the backgrounds of many have been troubled, so the cooperation displayed by Finns looks good to them," Väänänen speculates.
Unemployment among immigrants has hovered around 20% over the past few years. According to Ari Väänänen, there is, however, wide variation among different immigrant groups.
"For those who come from harsh circumstances, such as an asylum-seeker fleeing a war, or as a refugee, gaining employment is more difficult than for the kind of immigrant who comes to Finland specifically to work," he explains.
The survey also found variation in the fields of working life that interest immigrants. For example, Russian immigrant men are most widely employed in the industrial and construction sectors, while many women of Kurdish origin are to be found working in the service sector, sales and care professions.
