Lindström Finland offers Finnish language training to support employment and integration
Textile services company Lindström wants to commit even more to its social responsibility as an employer and invest more broadly in employing people with an immigrant background. Lindström is already an international and multicultural organization, and the Finnish organization supports the employment of immigrants through, for example, Finnish language training.
Work and language skills play a key role in the integration of immigrants. Lindström Finland is investing in the employment of immigrants while also challenging other companies to consider their own responsibility in supporting immigrants’ employment opportunities.
“Language skills make it much easier to adapt to work and, of course, to integrate immigrants more widely”, says Sami Laine, Head of Human Resources at Lindström Finland.
Lindström offers Finnish language training through its partner. Personnel undergoes language proficiency tests to help everyone find the right ability group.
“We would also like to challenge other Finnish companies to consider whether they could facilitate the employment and social integration of immigrants. It would be great if responsibility was also actions, not just words”, Laine says.
Lindström’s work communities in Finland are multicultural, especially in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and at some offices, even the majority have an immigrant background.
“Lindström Finland already employs more than 150 people with an immigrant background. For example, the Koivuhaka unit in Vantaa of our subsidiary Comforta employs people of 15 different nationalities and they speak more than 20 different languages. Altogether, our colleagues in the Lindström Finland organization represent over 35 different nationalities. So, we have been working on the employment of immigrants for a long time, and we have received good feedback about the fact that this is now being invested in through language training as well”, says Camilla Hanganpää, Recruitment Specialist at Lindström Finland.
“The biggest obstacle to the employment of immigrants has specifically been language skills. For example, various visual instructions have been created for immigrants, and they will continue to be used. Many of our supervisors already have a great deal of experience in managing a multicultural work community. They are considerable sources of knowledge whose expertise we will use to find the best practices”, Hanganpää says.
Skilled workforce from immigrants
Lindström’s experiences of employing immigrants are positive.
“We have found partners that provide immigrants with language training and job coaching. These partners have helped us gain good employees. Cooperation between different operators is important in the employment of immigrants”, Hanganpää says.
Lindström Finland is also involved in the Match project being launched by the City of Vantaa. It seeks to find apprenticeships for unemployed immigrant women and immigrants under the age of 25.
“People with an immigrant background may not be able to find suitable employers on their own. That is why companies themselves must be actively involved in various projects and events”, Laine says.