In Helsinki, everything just works. That’s a sentence very often heard from the foreign owned companies in Helsinki. Setting up business is easy, everybody speaks English, the workforce available is highly educated and has a good attitude towards work, and the business in built on trust. Helsinki is also the EU capital closest to Russia.
Also the international people living in the region tend to be really happy with their home town.
Chicagoan Rebecca Kihlman came to Finland, in the city of Vantaa, as a high school exchange student in 1987. It’s been a love affair with the country ever since. Read what she says.
Canadian Matthew Wood found his way to Helsinki just over two years ago, when he was urged by a friend to apply for a job at the American Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki. “It’s not the Nokia or the Finnish wife story. It’s the interesting job story,” he smiles. Click here to read Matt’s story.
Katja Karelina moved to Helsinki in 2002, after having spent 10 years studying and working in the United States. Today she is a mother of 5-year-old twins and the CEO of a Helsinki-based neurotechnology start up Neurotar. Combining the two roles is easy, she said when we asked.
Nils Borstelmann decided to rebel against his fellow students who all opted for France or Spain for their exchange year, and go to an unknown city in the north – Helsinki. Being the rebel paid dividends and Nils is now happily married to a Finnish woman and works for a German company in Helsinki. Learn more about Nils here.
Picture: Seppo Samuli
