Work in Finland team launches its operations in Türkiye as part of Talent Boost
Our Talent Manager Sezin Ata Diler and visitors from the Work in Finland team in Helsinki visited Istanbul and Ankara to launch their operations in Türkiye and get to know local actors in innovation and education. The visit's purpose was to enable future cooperation through talent and academic exchange between the two countries.
Following Talent Manager Sezin Ata Diler joining the Work in Finland team of Business Finland in Türkiye in April, Head of Work in Finland Unit Laura Lindeman; International Operations Manager Santeri Ojala; and International Startups and Permit Development Manager Annamari Soikkeli visited Türkiye to launch the operations in the country. Türkiye is one of the four focus countries for the Talent Boost programme, aiming to make Finland an attractive place to work, start a company, study and carry out research.
The visitors held several introduction meetings with key local stakeholders in Istanbul and Ankara, discussing cooperation possibilities related to talent and startup mobility. Work in Finland supports country branding, talent and startup attraction in Türkiye.
Related to startup attraction, the delegation met with leading accelerators, including Hackquarters, KWORKS, ODTU Teknokent, Bilkent Cyberpark. Work in Finland is planning for more activities and events to share more information on the opportunities in Finland for the startups and scaleups who might be looking into expansion possibilities outside of Türkiye. In terms of ICT talent, the visitors had meetings with local talent hubs and recruitment companies.
For the Ankara leg, the delegation attended to the luncheon organized by the Ambassador Ari Maki where he hosted higher education institutes, including Middle Eastern Technical University (METU), Bilkent University, Ankara University, Gazi University, Hacettepe University and Ankara Medipol University. Separate meetings with the leading universities METU and Bilkent University also showed on the various potential ways to collaborate. This includes potential cooperation with the Finnish universities and companies. Erasmus has been already a success in advancing student and academic exchanges as well as internships. Essentially, it has helped in bringing the countries closer to each other.
Overall, while Finland is not yet within the radar for many Turkish talents, students and startups, it has a lot to offer to them in terms of services, quality of life and work-life balance. Being the most stable country in the world, Finland cherishes work-life balance as well as research and innovation, leading it to be in the top 10 most innovative countries in the world. Promisingly for academic exchanges, Finland's world-leading higher education system offers more than 500 English-language bachelor's and master's degree programmes; 20 000 international students are already studying in these programmes. To share knowledge and these opportunities within Türkiye.
Work in Finland will be happy to support connecting the ecosystems in both countries, to build bridges to increase diversity and to ultimately enhance the bilateral relationship.
Business Finland is the Finnish government organization for innovation funding, trade, travel and investment promotion and talent attraction. The visiting delegation belongs to the Work in Finland Unit of Business Finland who are responsible for international talent attraction as part of the national Talent Boost program.
Talent Boost is a cross-administrative programme of the Government of Finland, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland and the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. The programme aims to make Finland an attractive place to work, study and carry out research.
Türkiye is one of the four focus countries where Finland seeks to increase awareness of opportunities and to increase cooperation between the ecosystems in both countries, including collaborations with Higher Education Institution (HEI). Turkish students, professionals, and companies’ presence in Finland will also boost the economic and business relationship between the countries.
For further information, you can contact sezin.atadiler(a)businessfinland.fi or the Embassy.