I almost missed a meeting today, which is uncommon for me. It was with employment services, who I have to meet with every three months or so, because I am technically part-time unemployed, because my own business activity only covers part time hours, if that. However, the person assigned to me knows that he is unable to help me find employment anyway, so we ended up just talking about his own business endeavours. And failures. After all, he is working for the government and trying to help people find a job. So, business isn't exactly booming for him.
But like me, he is a foreigner with a non-white background, and understands that if he ever wants to have an average life in Finland, he has to do more than the average Finn. This is because opportunities are far more scarce, as well as there being no generational network and wealth to provide support. For a foreigner to be average, they have to do what Finns won't. And that largely comes down to stating some kind of business, where there is risk and a high chance of failure.
But what we were mostly talking about is risk aversion based on background. For a lot of foreigners who move anywhere in the world, they do so for some kind of "better life" reasons, which means they have recognised that wherever they are from, it is not enough. This doesn't necessarily mean having to come from some war-torn country, it could just be that the lifestyle or culture just doesn't align as well, or there aren't the career opportunities available, or they fall in love with someone from elsewhere and move to be with them.
But no matter the reason, it seems to end up being that the immigrant is likely to be less risk-averse than the locals. This is somewhat of a selection bias though, because the person willing to move from a known environment into an unknown one is already likely to be more risk-seeking. And this is likely more true for the people who haven't been forced to move due to societal disruption.
This means that the foreigners are more willing to try something new (often out of necessity for a decent income), but without inside and bureaucratic knowledge, network, language and a host of other conditions, are also more likely to fail when they try. While a local who has a higher chance of success due to more favourable conditions, is less likely to even try. And they are less likely to try because they are more comfortable and have a network, meaning that trying and failing becomes a risk both for their current comfort, and their ego.
The employment situation in Finland is the worst it has been since the 2008 Financial crisis, and it isn't looking up any time soon. This is largely because Finns who are good at saving money, are pretty bad when it comes to taking investment risks, which means investments haven't been made into really growing the economy through innovation. Which is pretty bad, for a country full of engineers and highly skilled people who have innovative knowhow. Instead, the country keeps trying to save its way into wealth, by cutting services and taxing people more. It is a losing strategy, but because it is what Finns currently know, it is what they keep doing.
Hardship drives innovation.
Need is one thing, but hardship is a massive motivator, because we are wired for comfort. If we keep changing our definition of what comfort is, and keep accepting lower and lower levels of it as comfortable, we keep staying "safe" even as things get worse. But if we say, enough is enough, we have the need to do something differently, to grow, rather than contract. No one wants hardship or pain, but it is a great motivator to encourage different approaches. However, what we should recognise is it is possible to make the changes before things get too painful that it forces change. We can instead try and fail when the risks are low, rather than after we are painted into a corner.
While the employment prospects are bleak, I am hoping that I am able to wrangle some more business work in the new year to cover the shortfall, and perhaps a bit extra. It is far from certain and I will probably fail, but the only other option is to keep accepting more and more discomfort as normal, until there is nothing left at all.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
- Comment on the topics of the article, and add your perspectives and experiences.
- Read and discuss with others who comment and build your personal network
- Engage well with me and others and put in effort
And you may be rewarded.