Recession blights young Finns' chances for summer jobs in USA

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According to the Finnish Youth Co-Operation Allianssi, the organisation will not be able to find summer jobs for young Finnish asults in the USA for the upcoming summer.
      Partly because of weak economic prospects, a decision was made already in the autumn to remove the country from the exchange programme, says Tiina Hokkanen, who is in charge of the youth exchanges at Allianssi.
      Allianssi has also learned from its European partners that Work and Travel USA, a programme run by the United States government, has now ground to a halt.
     
Annually around 100 young Finns have obtained work in the United States through the Allianssi Youth Exchanges, subsequently touring the country.
      ”The jobs have usually been low entry positions for example in theme parks, hotels, and other places in the service sector”, Hokkanen reports.
     
The ongoing recession does not show up in any other areas where Allianssi manages youth exchanges. For example in Great Britain, the number of jobs available at hotels does not appear to have declined.
      The British hotels are regarded as the most popular employers, and some 200 Finnish young people are planning to work for them, while Central European hotels are also viewed with favour.
     
However, au pair positions in British families are declining in popularity.
      Europe is already too familiar, and independent modern youths no longer wish to live in families and adhere to strict rules.
      ”It is a pity, as an au pair has an opportunity to see the life of the country in question closer and to get to know local people. At hotels it is often possible to come into contact only with other foreigners”, Hokkanen argues.
      It is also possible to take up an au pair job only for the summer. Allianssi’s period of applications for summer jobs started at the beginning of April. In addition to Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Austria, and France are also popular.
     
According to Hokkanen, applicants are no longer interested in heavy physical work, for example strawberry picking.
      However, applicants have also begun to appreciate unpaid volunteer work. After working on behalf of a volunteer organisation for some weeks, young people often want to tour the country.
      At present, Allianssi can offer a total of 2,500 international workcamps for volunteers in 54 different countries. Annually, a few hundred youngsters choose to work without being paid.
     
Allianssi is the most popular exchange organisation in Finland, offering work across the world to almost 1,000 young adults every year.


Links:
  Finnish Youth Co-Operation Allianssi
  Work and Travel USA 2009

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