What price a new life?

Last December, Vincent Mercado was browsing through job advertisements at home in the Philippines. One of them caught his attention: a local recruitment agency was looking for cooks on behalf of a Finnish agency called Opteam. Among other things, applicants were required to hold a relevant educational qualification, have at least two years of work experience and knowledge of international cuisine and to be aged from 22 to 38.

The 33-year-old Mercado submitted his application straight away. Filipino recruitment agencies primarily search for people to work in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, but Mercado was interested in moving to Europe – to a small and happy country where his 4- and 10-year-old daughters would finally be able to have a safe childhood. Such job advertisements were few and far between.

Soon Mercado was invited for a job interview. He took a written test and another test assessing his professional skills. Mercado, who had studied and worked in the United States, excelled in his tests and was informed that he had been selected.

He also had medical check-ups and filled in visa and work permit applications at the Malaysian Embassy with instructions from Opteam. Now all he had to do was wait for a rubber stamp from the Employment and Economic Development (TE) Office and the Finnish Immigration Service, or Migri.

Mercado is one of more than 120 Filipino cooks recruited by Opteam to work in Finland over the last eight years. Opteam is not the only one, as major nationwide agencies bringing plenty of foreign labour over are a familiar phenomenon, according to the Work Permit Unit of the Uusimaa TE Office (PAM Magazine 12/16).

Under Philippine law, Opteam could charge Mercado and other workers a recruitment fee equivalent to 1–6 times their monthly pay, amounting to a lump sum of as much as over 10,000 euros. As a general rule, even Finnish law would not prohibit this. However, Opteam has not done this.

‘Everything worked splendidly and I didn’t have to pay anything, unlike you usually have to do in the Philippines,’ Mercado confirms.

In this respect, we have to take the word of the parties involved at face value, because there is no-one in Finland to control recruitment agencies’ procedures abroad. This is not done by the TE Office or even Migri, although both of these bodies are involved in making decisions on work permits.

The TE Office explains that if they notice something suspicious, they will tip off the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI). However, AVI sounds a more cautious note, stating that supervising recruitment processes is not a top priority, unlike fulfilment of the minimum terms and conditions of employment, for example.

‘Even if we received a tip, we won’t be able to address the issue if employees do not raise it during inspections,’ explains Riku Rajamäki, Senior Inspector for the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland.

While Vincent Mercado was waiting for a work permit in the Philippines, he participated in a Finnish language course organised by Opteam together with a couple of dozen other successful applicants. The cooks did not even have time to finish the course before their permits came through. Mercado bought an airline ticket, packed his bags and said his good-byes to his daughters, relatives and friends.

The flight took over 14 hours. At Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the cooks were greeted by a driver who took them to the Opteam offices for lunch and to deal with paperwork. In Mercado’s eyes, the streets of Helsinki looked empty and peaceful.

Finally, tired from their flight, the Filipinos were taken to their new temporary lodgings. Opteam’s services cover furnished starter accommodation, which for the Filipinos who arrived this spring is located in a Forenom hostel in Pitäjänmäki, a peaceful area within half an hour of Helsinki city centre by bus.

From the outside, the building reflects the austere 1980’s style, but the interior areas were spruced up just last year. Mercado shares a 10 m2 room with another cook, just like the rest of the group. They all share a bathroom and a kitchen. The monthly rent is over 400 euros per person and the lease agreement binds the Filipinos for six months.

The hostel is run by Forenom, which is partially owned by Barona Group, of which Opteam is also a part. In the past, Forenom has been criticised for the way in which it has made a business out of providing accommodation for homeless people, asylum seekers and students.

‘Accommodation is by no means a business for us. We have sought the most reasonably priced form of housing possible for the cooks,’ says Minna Vanhala-Harmanen, Opteam’s Managing Director.

The cooks recruited by Opteam have ended up working for several different companies, but most work for Helsinki Cooperative Society HOK-Elanto, including Vincent Mercado.

That’s no wonder, because restaurants are suffering from labour shortages, in particular in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. At the same time, however, some competent cooks are unemployed. The high cost of housing in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and the low level of pay in the restaurant sector make for a poor combination.

Since the Filipino cooks are not charged any recruitment fees, the client companies are the ones to foot the bill for the whole shebang: the permit hassles, language training, arranging accommodation, kitchen training, integration and advisory services, and everything else.

‘This is definitely not the first choice for any company. The pay is the same as for any employee recruited in Finland, but recruitment costs are much higher,’ says Opteam’s Vanhala-Harmanen.

Initially, cooks sign an employment contract with Opteam for a fixed term of one year, after which the parties will decide whether they will continue with Opteam, with a client company or someone else. However, there is no obligation to offer to renew a contract, should there be a sudden change in the employment situation or work permit procedures, for example, which would make continued employment unprofitable.

Satu Vennala, HR Manager of the HOK-Elanto Restaurant Division, says that the company has continued every cook’s employment with an indefinite contract. Vennala stresses that the recruitments have been profitable. Of the more than 50 Filipino cooks that the company has hired for its restaurants, all have been well-liked as co-workers, several have been promoted as shift managers, while only a couple have returned to their home country.

Vincent Mercado is only just starting his new life in Finland. He praises HOK-Elanto and Opteam, which have made the first few weeks go smoothly. He has made friends both within the Filipino community and with his Finnish co-workers. They have shown Mercado around the Suomenlinna fortress island and other summer highlights of Helsinki.

‘I am very happy with my new life,’ Mercado says repeatedly.

Mercado appreciates the advantages of the Finnish world of work: extra pay for evenings, Sundays and public holidays, paid annual holidays and the work-to-leisure balance. The minimum working time specified in the employment contracts signed by him and other Filipino cooks is 30 weekly hours, but he says that there have been enough shifts. At the time of the interview, his first pay day is still ahead.

Mercado has already started to browse advertisements for flats to rent, because hostel life has issues in terms of lack of privacy. Once that is sorted out, he wants to start planning for his daughters to move to Finland. At present, they are living in the Philippines with their mother, Mercado’s ex-wife. Mercado is not aware of the minimum income requirements set by Migri for family members’ residence permits, but he has been told that it should be possible for family members to move to Finland. This would require a minimum net income of 1,900 euros per month.

‘First, I’ll get my own place and get my life in order. Then I’ll find out how my daughters can move to live with me,’ Mercado says.