9. Mental border obstacles

Long distances and weak social networks

• While there is a great deal of everyday integration close to the border, especially in Haparanda and Tornio, social networks are weaker further from the border: fewer people know someone who works across the border, and there is less knowledge of what the labour market looks like or what rules apply in the neighbouring country.
• Employers who recruit new staff and jobseekers who are looking for jobs sometimes find each other through social networks. Therefore, it is important for who is hired or finds a job in the neighbouring country whether the networks extend across the border or not.

• Cross-border social networks can give advice on jobs or people to recruit, as well as provide ‘role models’ in the form of people already working across the border.
• Everyday integration normalises attitudes to working in or recruiting from the neighbouring country.

Where national, regional and local narratives intersect

• Despite strong perceptions of a ‘borderless’ Torne Valley and a unified northern community, national stereotypes and narratives about ‘the others’ persist. This encourages a sense of distance between the two countries, coupled with an attitude that things are ‘different’ on the other side of the border.
• Stereotypical perceptions associated with nationality include, for example, harsh [but homely Finns versus open but unpleasant Swedes. Some friction between the nationalities – from local teasing to resentment at a perceived ‘big brother’ attitude among Swedes – emerged in the interviews. Here, it should be noted that the importance of national identity became particularly pronounced during the CORONA-19 pandemic.

• The perception in both Finland and Sweden that society and culture are equal makes it easier to work or recruit across borders.

Soft or hierarchical work culture

• There was a relatively unanimous view among interviewees that Finland and Sweden have differing work cultures, which serves to underscore the border between the two nations.
• The most common perception is that Finland has a more hierarchical work culture than Sweden, which has more discussing work culture and is seen as ‘softer’. Another preconception is that Swedish workplaces are slower paced compared to their Finnish equivalents.
• While some interviewees claim to have experienced these differences firsthand, many jobseekers or students have no personal experience of working in both countries and so are only relating what they have heard from others.

• The Swedish work culture, highlighted as calmer and less hierarchical, seems to attract Finns.
• The perception that Finns work hard may stimulate interest among Swedish employers.

National gravitational pull

• A national ‘gravitational pull’ creates common frames of reference among the respective populations of Finland and Denmark, sometimes at the expense of deeper knowledge about the neighbouring country.
• Although interviewees reported consuming news reports and cultural output from the neighbouring country, they rarely engaged to the same extent as in their own country. As a result, many people are not fully aware of what the labour market looks like across the border.

• Differences in job opportunities, working conditions and pay can generate dynamism between countries.

Language as a mental barrier

• The most common issue raised by the interviewees was that an inability to speak the neighbouring country’s language represents a concrete obstacle to taking a job across the border, as some degree of fluency is often required. Nevertheless, attitudes to the language skills required differ from employer to employer and, to some extent, from country to country. For instance, workplace language requirements generally seem to be stricter in Finland. The interviewees also expressed differing beliefs regarding the adequacy of their own language skills, with few feeling completely secure.
• The two languages are not unambiguously divided by the Finnish–Swedish border, as there are citizens of both countries who speak the language of the neighbouring country. The history of the two languages in the Finnish–Swedish region is loaded with emotion, which can affect people’s willingness to speak them in certain contexts.

• Bilingualism can be a competitive advantage in the labour market.
• Swedish and Finnish are spoken to some extent in both countries.

The experience of a high threshold

• While a majority of interviewees were broadly positive about working across the border, they also expressed concerns about the language barrier; the neighbouring country’s work culture; their limited knowledge of the labour market they might be entering; their lack of a social network across the border; and the rules that might apply to them as a cross-border commuter. The prospect of having to overcome these barriers – even if in reality they are easily surmountable – can lead to people feeling the easiest option is to remain where they are.
• The prospect of having to navigate bureaucratic hurdles in order to work across borders can be discouraging, with some interviewees claiming to have heard ‘horror stories’ about such problems.

• Differences between the two countries can be experienced as exciting, providing opportunities for personal development.

Recommendations

• Finnish and Swedish job search sites should link directly to jobs on the other side of the border, allowing jobseekers to find vacancies in the neighbouring country via a service they are already used to.
• In cases where Swedish language skills are not mandatory, the job advertisement could be in English, making it easier for Finnish jobseekers to apply.
• Local newspapers should be encouraged to provide more information on job opportunities across the border.
• A job fair could be organised in Oulu featuring Swedish companies looking for labour, using past job fairs involving Norwegian companies as a model.
• Employers wishing to hire people from the neighbouring country should talk about more than just the job itself in the recruitment process – for example, painting an enticing picture of what it would be like to live on the other side of the border.

• In Finland, greater investment should be made in Swedish language teaching so that knowledge of the language does not die out among the population. Moreover, it is important that people in the two countries learn to understand both Swedish and Finnish, allowing them to communicate without the risk of workplace misunderstandings.
• In order to work in Sweden, Finns should focus on improving their English if they do not speak Swedish.

• More information should be made available on the practicalities of working across the border between Finland and Sweden. In this regard, the Border Service of the Arctic Cap could be more visible.

• Authorities from both countries should be encouraged to work under the same roof in the border region, thereby facilitating collaboration. This would help ease the practical and bureaucratic challenges faced by residents looking to work across the border.

• A smoother process for validating professional qualifications would encourage workers in certain professions to look for employment across the border (e.g. Swedish nurses willing to work in Finland).

• Finland and Sweden should develop a joint crisis strategy aimed at ensuring the situation that developed during the COVID-19 pandemic – with riot fences at the border – is not repeated.