Silkkitie, owned by Sotjätti Attendo, is now recruiting nursing staff from India. According to the local partner, the potential is promising.
Vikas is a 25-year-old young nurse from Delhi who is moving to Finland next summer.
He already knows a few words of Finnish. “Good day, how are you,” he says.
Vikas comes from a small village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He is a little nervous about an interview with a Finnish journalist.
“I’ve wanted to live abroad since I was little, I’ve heard a lot about this happiest country in the world,” he says.
“I know that the weather is cold there and that they pay a lot of tax on their wages.”
Vikas is one of over a hundred nurses who will soon be sent to Finland. His passport doesn’t say his last name.
A Swedish healthcare company I’m waitingowned by Silk Road and Indian Walsons Healthcare recently signed an agreement to bring Indian nurses to Finland. There are plans to increase the number at a fast pace. There have been a dozen or so starters so far.
Business opportunity.
According to Richa Arora, director of Silkkitie’s partner Walsons Healthcare, there is now space for nurses from India in Finland.
PHOTO: Pia Heikkilä
Contract through contacts
Cooperation between companies was created through contacts. In addition to recruitment services, Walsons offers security and verification activities, and its owners include a Swedish security industry veteran Securitas.
“We have solid industry knowledge,” says the director of Walsons Healthcare Richa Arora.
“Now this can become a viable growth business for us, because Finland has been comparatively unknown to Indian nursing workers,” he continues.
Nurses have been sent from India to Western countries since the 1960s, mainly to the United States and Britain.
Walsons has been operating in Britain for five years with the NHS, and recently started operations in Germany, so the Nordic countries were a natural continuation for the company.
According to Arora, the companies intend to operate in Finland for a long time in order to achieve sustainability in the industry.
“We carefully prepare candidates for departure, they have to pass a Finnish language test in addition to the recruitment process,” he says.
Life abroad is the dream of millions
Indian nursing degrees are not recognized in Finland. Even if the Indian is a nurse by training, he will be hired as an apprentice, where he will have to pass the Finnish nursing degree.
If necessary, he can do continuing education studies in addition to work.
There are millions of willing people in India who want to go work elsewhere in the hope of a better life and career advancement.
“India is a huge country with a lot of skilled, English-speaking people,” says Silkkitie’s business director responsible for international recruitment Elisa Vepsäläinen.
The company has previously recruited from the Philippines and in recent years has also expanded its operations in the Middle East and Kenya.
The shortage of personnel in the Finnish social security sector has started to interest other players in the recreation sector as well. A few years ago, a personnel company Baron announced that it will start importing medical personnel from India.
Artificial intelligence helps in fraud detection
There are a lot of scams in the recreation industry in India, because the cost of leaving is high and families invest a lot of money in the departure of a young person.
It is important for Silktie that all those who leave are verified and their backgrounds are carefully checked.
“For example, we use artificial intelligence and the know-how of our partners to guarantee the authenticity of diplomas,” says Vepsäläinen.
Responsible recruitment is important to the company. The process is free for job seekers, which is rare in India.
“We want to keep the whole process as open as possible. It is important for us that the employee knows where he is going and what further education opportunities he has, what the salary is like, how holidays accrue and what other benefits he will receive when he goes to Finland,” says Vepsäläinen.
The companies want to encourage whole families to work in Finland. Silkitie is already recruiting families to, for example, Kainuu, which is suffering from migration losses. The purpose is to get the family rooted in Finland.
“For example, we’re looking for families where both adults are in the nursing profession, and who are interested in establishing roots in Finland,” says Vepsäläinen.
Fact
Personnel service Silkkitie Oy
The company’s turnover was 3.8 million euros in 2022.
It employs 20 people.
Attendo bought the company in May 2022.
It is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.