One in four construction workers in Uusimaa now comes from abroad

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There are currently no fewer than 12,500 foreign construction workers labouring away on various building sites in the southern region of Uusimaa, the district of Finland immediately surrounding the capital..
     
The figure is based on estimates by the Finnish Construction Trade Union. The employers’ side, the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT, agrees that the estimate is more or less accurate.
      There is no precise account available of how many foreign construction workers there are in Finland, but the number is increasingly strongly. “The number of foreign clerical workers in this sector is also on the up”, says contact person Esko Auvinen from the Finnish Construction Trade Union.
      According to estimates, possibly one out of four workers on the Uusimaa construction sites is already of foreign extraction.
      Most of the foreign construction workers in Finland work in Uusimaa.
     
Finland’s foreign construction workers come primarily from Poland and the Baltic States, particularly Estonia. There are newcomers from other transition EU states and Russia as well, but the more complicated residence and work permit practices keep especially the number of Russian arrivees in check.
      “The supply is enormous, but one has to have the necessary skills and the ability to communicate”, points out Kim Kaskiaro from the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries.
      “In Poland there is plenty of construction industry know-how, high unemployment, and a clearly lower income level compared to Finland. Estonians have the language advantage.”
     
In Finland, foreign construction workers often work for a foreign subcontractor.
      They may have arrived in Finland also as rented labour through labour rental companies.
      According to Auvinen, in Uusimaa the foreign workers have replaced temporary workers from elsewhere in Finland. “A ferry ride from Tallinn to Helsinki is shorter and cheaper than a drive from northern Finland.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Fewer Estonian workers found on Finnish construction sites (20.2.2007)
  Illegal labour coming from more and more distant countries (5.2.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat