The article analyzes how 31 international students (IS) entered the Finnish labor market as they graduated from Finnish universities. Despite a growing interest in international student migration (ISM), there are few studies that analyze the firsthand experiences of IS as they seek to enter the receiving-country labor markets as they graduate. This article contributes to the topic by showing how the interviewees of this study managed to enter the receiving-country labor markets, which are embedded in national, cultural, and institutional contexts that require context-bound knowledge of particular recruitment patterns.The contribution of the article lies in (1) providing new insights on an understudied topic: IS’ experiences of finding jobs in the country of graduation, and, in (2) constructing a theoretical framework for analyzing IS’ job search in the countries ofgraduation. More broadly, the article contributes to the studies on highly educated migrants’ labor market integration by shedding light on the experiences in a Nordic setting.

This article examines trade union strategies in relation to labor migration in Estonia and

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The Finnish service sector trade union Palvelualojen ammattiliitto or Service Union United has the largest amount of migrant members of all Finnish trade unions. It walks the narrow line between defending the perceived interests of its members from the ‘threat’ of labour immigration, and simultaneously trying to act as an immigrant-friendly force. This qualitative case study analyses the outcomes of the union’s strategies in questions related to immigration. The outcomes affect different immigrant groups in a different manner. Furthermore, the established quasi-state character of the Finnish trade union movement affects both the strengths and weaknesses of its strategies. The politicized anti-immigration views in the Finnish society indirectly to some degree impact trade union strategies. Results suggest that the lay distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ based on nationality still shapes trade union strategy in a way that can be labeled selective solidarity.

The consequences of immigration for the welfare states has received increased attention by scholars and in political and media debates in Europe. However, migrants' subjective understandings of the welfare state remains an understudied research topic. This study aims to address the topic by analysing the question in the Nordic context by looking at Estonian labour migrants' understandings of the Finnish welfare state. Our data consists of 51 biographical interviews with Estonian migrants in Finland. Based on the interviews, we traced interviewees' attitudes towards the Finnish welfare state.In Finland, Estonians aspire for social citizenship, which in their case refers to gaining economic welfare and embracing Finnish welfare state institutions. This aspiration for social citizenship is revealed in Estonians' 'identity talk', which takes two forms: embracement and distancing. By embracement, we mean their positive sentiments towards the institutions and norms of the Finnish welfare state. The interviewees highlight their participation in the labour market, diligent payment of taxes, justified use of the welfare benefits and services offered by the Finnish state, and membership in trade unions and unemployment funds. The interviewees underline the link between work and the deservingness of welfare benefits. They describe themselves as deserving, which, they claim, should put them on par with native Finns. Moreover, by means of distancing, the interviewed Estonians distinguish themselves from 'others' -in their opinion-'non-deserving' migrants who 'do not contribute' to the Finnish welfare state.