This Industry Wants to Employ the Best Talent, Regardless of Background
Anni Siltanen
Last spring the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland commissioned a study on the diversity of the industry, in collaboration with students from Aalto University’s Industrial Engineering and Management Program. Representatives and employees from member companies participated in the study.
The study addressed topics such as education, decision-making, and the linguistic background of those working in the chemical industry.
One main area for improvement, highlighted in the survey, is language requirements. Traditionally, fluent Finnish or Swedish skills have been seen as integral to overall safety in the chemical industry. While research and development teams may speak multiple native languages and work together in English, production has remained entirely Finnish and/or Swedish.
The study recommends considering other approaches in this area. By opening up production roles to individuals with non-Finnish language and cultural backgrounds, the industry could significantly increase its pool of talent to meet its carbon neutrality and nature-positive goals. This would, of course, require rethinking production work instructions—possibly in multiple languages—but would ultimately greatly enhance our ability to address the skills shortage. Currently, the industry is projected to need more workers than the domestic market can provide.
“Even as new practices emerge, it’s important to nurture the good old ones and take care of the long-standing staff.”
Anni Siltanen, Senior Advisor, Skills & Competence
Member companies, particularly in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, have already had positive experiences with multilingual production work and recruiting talent from abroad.
According to their experiences, recruitment opportunities multiply, and language issues are solvable. Individuals from different operational environments have enriched the community with new ideas, and questioning old practices often leads to discovering new ways of working.
Even as new practices are developed, it’s essential to cherish the good old ones and ensure the well-being of long-term staff.
Ultimately, it’s about having the courage to find new ways of working and being open as an industry to new approaches addressing the talent gap.
At the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, we currently view diversity primarily as a key aspect of talent availability. We aspire to be an industry that employs the best possible talent, regardless of background.
