Language proficiency expectations at work

Summary

Finland has a significant pool of international talent among its students, professionals and residents. Their expertise, language skills and networks can strengthen renewal, internationalisation and growth in workplaces. However, some of this potential remains untapped due to strict national language proficiency requirements that are not always based on the actual needs of the job.

This memorandum examines the language proficiency expectations of eight sectoral clusters, their potential to make better use of the expertise of international talents, and solutions for developing more language-aware workplaces. The memorandum is based on document analysis, expert interviews, an analysis of potential for better leveraging international expertise and a validation workshop.

The framework presented in this memorandum helps assess when proficiency in Finnish or Swedish is genuinely required by the quality of work, safety, customer service, regulation or official responsibilities. It also clarifies when a role could initially be performed in English, with other language skills or while developing proficiency in one of the national languages. The assessment framework examines the rationale behind language proficiency expectations, the required level of language proficiency, opportunities to use different languages, the readiness of the work community and the flexibility of recruitment practices.

There are considerable differences between sectors and individual workplaces. For example, in digital product development, international trade and many global expert roles, English may already be sufficient. In industrial technology, health technology and knowledge-intensive services, opportunities often depend on how tasks are organised, how onboarding is carried out and what kind of language practices exist in the work community. In regulated public and welfare sectors, as well as in the built environment, language proficiency expectations are more strongly shaped by legislation, safety, documentation and interaction with public authorities. In these sectors, too, the expertise of international talents could be used more extensively through phased work assignments, supported career pathways and language learning at work.

The conclusion is that language proficiency expectations should primarily be assessed based on the specific requirements of each role. In addition, workplaces should adopt language-aware solutions, such as work pairs and language mentors, agreed practices for parallel language use, and workplace-based language learning.

The key question is not whether Finland can give up its national languages, but in which roles they are genuinely needed, at what level, and to what extent the required proficiency in the national languages can develop alongside work. From the perspective of renewal, internationalisation and growth, developing proficiency in a national language should be seen in working life as a development pathway, not as a barrier to recruiting international talents.

Contact us

Anna Grant

Senior Lead, Insight