The integration Services in the Jakobstad region works comprehensively with the immigrant issues in the region. In 2024, the Integration Services began the development project Integration Works, which is funded by the European Social Fund and the municipalities in the Jakobstad region.

The aim of the project is to support immigrants’ path to working life as early as possible.

As a result of the project, the opportunities for immigrants to be employed are promoted at an early stage after arrival in Finland. This strengthens the participation of immigrants and enables economic independence.

• The great need of labour in the Jakobstad region benefits from immigrants finding more ways for employment and work, project manager Susann Gleisner explains.

The project creates employment paths

The purpose of the project is to more effectively match the available labour force with the demand of labour, to reduce the differences in employment between Finns and people with a foreign background, to strengthen cooperation with industry and trade, and to clarify the roles of different actors as well as developing the integration services.

• During the project, we will test different models for paths to employment, which will then become permanent employment paths. We have an employment model, called Early Support, for under 30-year-olds in cooperation with the organisation EHJÄ rf. All the clients we had in the autumn of 2024 were later admitted to an education. Now we have new customers in this employment path again. In addition, a workshop model, which is open for everyone, is ongoing during the spring. The themes for the workshops are job search, company visits, hygiene passport, economics, education, mental health, and a nature day, Gleisner says.

Towards permanent jobs through cooperation

The main target group of the project is the unemployed immigrants in the Jakobstad region or immigrants who can be employed. The second main target group of the project is employers and companies.

• The project has started very well and several local companies, both big and small, participate. We have also got other partners than companies involved in the project, and we also collaborate with other projects. The project already has a large number of customers who are very motivated to be matched with the right employer, whether it is in terms of work trial, pay subsidy or work. The hope is that this will lead to a permanent job, if not immediately then at a later stage. More business partners are always welcome, Gleisner concludes.

The integration port offers information and advice

The Service Point for Newcomers serves as a service point for the integration services in the Jakobstad region, providing information about Finnish society, public services, and social and health care services. The Service Point also informs about language courses and opportunities for education, about day care, about rules for work, about housing and leisure activities, and about support for integration.

The service is free of charge and is offered to all immigrants regardless of the reason for coming to the country. Advice is given in Swedish, Finnish, and English and, as far as possible, in other languages. Interpreters are used when necessary, so everyone is welcome to visit the Service Point for Newcomers regardless of language skills. The opening hours for the Service Point for Newcomers are listed below.

The Service Point for Newcomers in Jakobstad

Jakobstad Town Hall, Strengbergsgatan 1

68600 Jakobstad

Phone: 044 7851 686

integration@jakobstad.fi

Monday–Thursday 13–16