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Turku region seeks international tech summer trainees

  • One third of the campaign places will be reserved for international students
  • Summer trainee increases the opportunities for foreign experts to settle permanently in Finland and Turku after graduation
  • According to the Technology Industries of Finland, international graduate engineers are an under-utilized resource

For several summers, the Turku region has arranged campaigns to attract Engineering master’s degree students by offering housing and public transport benefits. In 2020, the Tech Summer Trainee (Kesäteekkarikampanja) campaign goes international, as one-third of the places will be reserved for international degree students. The campaign is primarily aimed at students of machine, production, maritime and construction technologies as well as students of architecture.

Finding competent labour is a continuously growing challenge for companies. According to Technology Industries of Finland, as many as 5,500 experts with academic education will be needed annually by technology industry companies in different parts of Finland, and the need for high-level know-how is expected to increase in the future. At present, there are available positions for every student set to graduate in the near future with a Masters of Science (M.S.) in Engineering.

The long-lasting economic growth in Southwest Finland has further increased the worries of local companies about the availability of competent labour. Companies have had trouble in both filling permanent posts and attracting engineering students from their study towns to a summer job in the Turku region.

Attention to international students

In addition to the scarcity of experts, international students at Finnish universities are underutilized. According to Technology Industries of Finland, international Masters of Science in Engineering are an underutilised resource, although the high demand for experts continues.

That’s why for the first time in 2020, the Tech Summer Trainee campaign in the Turku region will have an international angle. One-third of the places in the Turku region will be reserved for international students. The goal is to support networking between local companies and international students, as a summer job is an excellent place both for the employee and the employer to get to know each other.

“We have arranged campaigns with the City of Turku for several summers to attract tech summer trainees by offering housing in a flat in the Turku Student Village and a public transport season card free of charge for three months. This year the campaign is primarily directed at students of machine, production, maritime and construction technologies as well as students of architecture in universities of technology outside Turku. The benefit will be given to 30 students, of which 10 are reserved for international degree students. The summer job also improves the opportunities of foreign experts to settle permanently in Finland and Turku after graduation”, says Lotta Kujanpää, Project Specialist responsible for the implementation of the campaign in Turku Science Park Ltd.

Tech Summer Trainees will also be recruited during a campus tour that will stop at the DuuniDay in the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology on Tuesday, 28 January 2020, the Pesti Career Day in the University of Oulu on Thursday, 30 January 2020, and Yrityspäivät in the University of Tampere on Thursday, 6 February 2020.

New degree programmes will relieve the situation

The master’s degree programmes of machine technology and materials technology that will start in the autumn at the University of Turku will relieve the short supply of experts in the future. The degree programme places in the fields of technology have also been increased at the Turku University of Applied Sciences.

“Training and education play a key role in responding to the companies’ need for experts. In addition, the Turku region and the whole of Southwest Finland should take actions in the future to attract more experts who are already in the working life. Due to retirement and low population growth, we also need to have the means to attract and keep international experts”, says Niko Kyynäräinen, CEO of Turku Science Park Ltd.

Read here more about the Talent Turku business service concept co-ordinated by Turku Science Park Ltd.