Hidden Gems activities and peer groups are designed to empower international spouses whose partners have been hired to work in Tampere region. Spouses have followed their partners here and wish to build a good life and a meaningful career for themselves. They are international talents coming from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Our activities aim to facilitate networking, employment and full integration of the spouses into the Finnish society.
Hidden Gems Finland is an initiative by the Tampere Universities community and coordinated by Tampere University. Initially, we started out as an in-house spouse programme supporting the spouses of our international researchers. Since then, our activities have been opened to spouses whose partners work in the private sector, too. Currently, the activities are produced in collaboration with local organisations and associations and the International House Tampere.
Over the years, the Hidden Gems initiative has organised a variety of activities related to networking, mentoring and professional development. In academic year 2022-23, the focus will be on peer support groups. The peer groups help the spouses navigate and plan their personal and professional life in the new environment. In many cases new friendships are born!
Vision
In today’s competitive world companies need to seek for talents from abroad to answer the increasing foreign operations and innovation shortage. Up to 80 percent of international talents relocate with their families. When relocating, spouses are often falling off the radar of organisational support, while they need the most career care. Despite their qualifications, spouses may have to stay home for years before finding employment.
Research tells us that the number one reason for international assignment failure is due to the unhappiness of a spouse. In order to attract and retain highly skilled talents we must tackle this issue and support families.
Mission
Hidden Gems activities and peer groups aim to facilitate networking, employment and full integration of the spouses into the Finnish society. The Hidden Gems Finland initiative promotes growth and internationalisation by enabling local companies to tap into the “hidden” expertise of international spouses. We can no longer ignore the potential of the expatriates’ spouses!