Young Ukrainians are leaving Finland en masse in search of work

Thousands of young Ukrainians are leaving Finland for other European Union countries. The main reason for this mass departure is the difficulty of finding work.

This is reported by Yle.

Temporary protection in Europe may end in less than a year, and in order to stay, Ukrainians have to find work at any cost. But doing so in Finland has turned out to be very difficult. Finland has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, and on top of that, knowledge of Finnish is required almost everywhere, which greatly worsens the position of migrants. From next August, studying in Finland will also become paid for students from countries outside the EU and the European Economic Area. For now, this does not affect Ukrainians, but there are no guarantees for next year.

“Unfortunately, my life in Finland did not work out. I tried to do everything I could. I feel like this country does not want me here,” 25-year-old Ukrainian Vladyslava Onufriienko told journalists.

She had run a small beauty business for several years, but was forced to close it two years ago. After that, she worked in a university cafeteria, but it too was closed for renovation six months ago.

“Since then, I haven’t been able to get a job anywhere. Even though I have all the necessary certificates — both hygiene and alcohol service — and I speak four languages,” Vladyslava said.

Andrii Kaminskyi, a construction engineer by training, has also decided to leave Finland.

“I’m looking for work, but I can’t find anything. Even farms require knowledge of Finnish; English is not enough. Every week I send dozens of applications, and to most of them I don’t even get a rejection,” he said.

Earlier, it was reported that in Germany Ukrainians are being denied jobs for far-fetched reasons, while at the same time being required to find employment.

Meanwhile, fewer than half of Ukrainian refugees plan to return home after the war.