Pretech, Vahterus and HAMK named International Employers of the Year 2026 at Talent Boost Summit

According to ePressi, at the Talent Boost Summit at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki on 7 October 2026, organisers named Pretech, Vahterus and Hämeen University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) as the International Employers of the Year 2026. The awards were organised by Suomen Nuorkauppakamarit ry.

"International recruitment does not end when a specialist is brought to Finland," said Niko Hiltunen, national competition manager for International Employer of the Year 2026. He said the winners were chosen for long-term work integrating international employees into everyday operations, supporting their career development and helping staff see a future in Finland.

PT Precision Technologies Oy, known as Pretech, won the small and medium-sized enterprise category. The Pori-based manufacturer employs about 100 people from more than ten countries. It has built a systematic model linking recruitment, onboarding and support for settling in Finland, and judges singled out strong management commitment to sustaining an international workplace.

Vahterus took the large-company prize. The Kalanti-headquartered heat-exchanger technology firm employs roughly 540 people in Finland and more than 650 globally, with about a quarter of staff from abroad. The company enables English in most roles, keeps bilingual communications and trains supervisors and team leads in multicultural leadership to support daily international working.

HAMK won the public organisations category. The university of applied sciences employs over 800 people across seven campuses in Kanta-Häme and Pirkanmaa. Around 10 percent of the workforce is international. HAMK offers bilingual communication, Finnish lessons during working hours and a language-buddy scheme.

The 2026 competition drew a record 92 nominations submitted between 1 and 31 May. An expert jury that included partners from Work in Finland, Business Helsinki and the cities of Espoo, Tampere and Turku made the selections, with the event under the patronage of Minister of Labour Matias Marttinen and MP Nasima Razmyar.

The awards connect to regional efforts to support international recruitment: the City of Tampere and neighbouring municipalities are this autumn piloting shared services to boost international recruitment the Tampere region pilot.