As Finnish businesses go after new markets in Russia, the need for Russian-speaking employees has grown. Not only is the private sector interested in potential employees’ language skills, they are also keen to take advantage of the possible networks that Russian speakers may have abroad, said Mari Taverne, a project coordinator with the Tampere trade and development company Tredea.

“Russians and Estonians also bring their own contacts into the business. When they work for a company they can offer the kinds of skills that Russian-speaking Finns may not necessarily have.”

Russian speakers who also command Finnish are in demand in sectors such as Information Technology (IT) and health care.

“If we consider marketing positions, then employers need communications professionals while programmers are needed for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector,” Taverne explained.

"The health care sector would need practical nurses as well as professionals for different kinds of marketing positions because health tourism is growing,” she added.

About 1,500 Tampere residents speak Russian as their native language. Additionally Russian-speaking Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians can also be found in the area.

A recruitment fair for Russian speakers takes place on Tuesday from 11.30 am at Tampere University.