The study charted immigrants’ employment situation for 15 years, from the 1990s through 2007. Over this period, the employment level among immigrants rose clearly, with many working their way up from unemployment to steady jobs.

Researchers attribute the improvement to many foreigners attaining Finnish degrees during this time. Employers’ attitudes have also become more open-minded during the past decade-and-a-half.

Those who arrived in the country as refuges have struggled the most to gain a foothold in working life.

Half of the immigrants included in the study live in the Helsinki area, where their jobless rate remains more than double of that of ethnic Finns.

Forty percent of the study’s immigrants are originally from countries of the former Soviet Union.