Talent Hack Day: Redefining the Future of Talent Attraction and Innovation
Talent Hack Day 2026 showed how a city can be both agile and boldly experimental in connecting companies with the international talent they need. The event brought together 50 international professionals and students, four companies, Business Vantaa, and Startup Refugees to solve real business challenges in just 48 hours. As Finland faces growing labour shortages and increasing global competition for skilled international professionals, collaborations like this matter more than ever.
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The concept is straightforward: instead of discussing talent attraction in theory, Talent Hack Day creates a hands‑on environment where international talents and companies work together on real‑world assignments. Participants test their skills in multidisciplinary teams while gaining insight into Finnish working life, and companies benefit from fresh international perspectives. This year, the teams produced eleven concrete solutions, several ready for immediate implementation.
The results were nothing short of impressive.
— Riikka Fagerström, Eaton
Eaton’s experience at Talent Hack Day 2026
Eaton’s Senior HR Business Partner, Riikka Fagerström, anticipated strong input from the teams, yet the depth and quality still exceeded expectations. “My goal was to see how fresh perspectives could tackle our specific hurdles through focused market research analysis, and the results were nothing short of impressive. I was struck by how deeply the teams engaged with our technology and business models and how quickly they generated meaningful insights.”
For companies, the two‑day sprint offers a practical way to observe talent in action, explore new ideas and spot potential future colleagues — connections that rarely emerge through traditional recruitment.
Talent Hack Day accelerates skills, networks and confidence
A hundred people applied to join the event, and fifty were selected based on motivation and qualification. Bernard Otulugbu, part of the winning Eaton team, highlights that success was based on both professional skills and human aspects of teamwork. “Coming from different cultural, professional and academic backgrounds, we took small intentional breaks to connect as people and build trust within our team. We also appreciated that Eaton’s representative took the time to answer our questions so thoroughly.”
Participants gave feedback on gaining benefits that are difficult to acquire through studies alone: growth in teamwork skills, new professional networks, and deeper industry-specific knowledge. Presenting their work directly to company representatives elevated the experience and allowed talents to be seen as experts in their fields.
The feedback reveals how impactful the event was: it received a 4,8/5 recommendation score and an even higher 4,9/5 rating for feeling welcomed and appreciated. Innovation thrives only in spaces where people feel included and able to contribute fully.
Breaking the myth of the “slow city”
City organizations are often perceived as slow and bureaucratic. Talent Hack Day challenges that image. Designed to be as agile as possible, the event creates rapid learning cycles and direct collaboration between companies and talent. “The expertise Finland is looking for is already here and ready to work—yet often invisible to the local companies that need it the most. All they need is a space where they can be seen,” explains Startup Refugees’ Skills Development Specialist Lejla Plecán.
The expertise Finland is looking for is already here and ready to work. All they need is a space where they can be seen.
— Lejla Plecán, Startup Refugees
This year showed what is possible when that space is created together: Business Vantaa coordinated the event and promoted it widely through its networks, Startup Refugees played a key role in engaging motivated and capable participants, and companies witnessed teams ready to work from the first hour. Running a similar two‑day sprint independently would cost companies thousands of euros in planning, facilitation and talent engagement, but the ecosystem approach is both impactful and accessible for companies of all sizes.
These types of events are at the core of Business Vantaa’s activities. “Our goal is to unite our companies with our talents and co-create meaningful new insights for real world challenges. I was very impressed by the energy, enthusiasm and teamwork participants showed on the hack day. The feedback clearly supports our aim to continue organizing these kinds of events and to develop them even further,” shares Director of International Business Services Olli-Pekka Mäkirintala.
Finland’s labour market is becoming increasingly diverse, and Vantaa is at the forefront of this shift. At the same time, labour shortages persist in fields vital to Finland’s future competitiveness. Talent Hack Day demonstrates what is possible when a city actively embraces this transformation.
Looking for low risk, high impact ways to meet potential employees or test agile HR innovations? Contact us to learn how your company can join the next Talent Hack Day.
