SoTe Resilience – Enhancing Work Readiness and Retention in Social and Health Care

Soteresilienssi is a European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) project to be implemented between 2026 and 2029, aimed at strengthening the employability of social and health care students and recent graduates and increasing retention in the sector. The project focuses specifically on nursing students and young professionals, developing solutions for a smooth transition from studies to the workforce and for retaining talent in the field.
The project is developing a guidance solution that utilizes artificial intelligence and is based on heuristic and rule-based analysis, supporting the identification of students’ and recent graduates’ competencies in relation to the demands of the workforce. The AI solution does not replace expert assessment, but rather compiles fragmented information into a systematic overview to support guidance, teaching, and training.
Participants are guided along individual learning paths using AI-supported competency profiles, which are supplemented by micro-training, workplace mentoring, and 4–8-week internships in the Pirkanmaa welfare region. Learning and development are tracked using the Workseed platform. The project will result in a social and health care resilience training and guidance concept, which will be published openly and widely available for use in social and health care education and the workplace.

The Finnish social and health care sector is facing both a severe labor shortage and challenges in retaining staff. An aging population is increasing the need for services, but at the same time, a large number of experienced professionals will be retiring in the coming decades. In nursing, in particular, the rapid turnover of recent graduates is a significant problem.
Based on research and monitoring data, studies generally provide good substantive skills, but generic skills—such as stress tolerance, interpersonal skills, adaptability, and interprofessional collaboration—are often insufficiently developed in the workplace. The transition from studies to working life is perceived as stressful, and guidance structures are often fragmented and inconsistent.
Furthermore, Generation Z’s expectations regarding working life—such as work-life balance, meaningful work, and responsible practices—do not always align with workplace realities. Previous projects by TAMK and its partners have shown that proactive recognition of competencies and high-quality internship guidance can significantly reduce career changes. The Soteresilience project builds on these findings and the results of previous development projects, such as the ICT4N and HoksHarkka projects.

The main objective of the project is to increase the retention rate of students graduating from and recent graduates in the social and health care sector, as well as to reduce premature career changes. This objective will be achieved by strengthening work readiness, resilience, and professional identity during the critical transition phase from education to working life.
Key objectives include:
* developing a sustainable and scalable model for the proactive identification of workforce skill needs and student competencies
* creating an AI-powered guidance and assessment tool for use by educational institutions and employers
* to create 3–5 work-based micro-training programs that specifically strengthen generic workplace skills
* to develop a personalized guidance and mentoring model for students and recent graduates
* to strengthen the flow of information and cooperation between educational institutions and the workforce.
The overarching principle underlying all these objectives is to support students’ well-being, resilience, and sustainable careers, as well as to promote better alignment between education and the workplace.

The project’s impact extends to the individual, organizational, and educational system levels. Participants’ work readiness and self-confidence are strengthened, their workload is reduced, and their transition into the workforce becomes more manageable. This directly supports job retention and reduces career changes.
For career counselors and teachers, the project offers clearer frameworks for student guidance, which improves the quality and equity of guidance and reduces the workload of counselors. For employers, the project provides more precise information on competencies and supports onboarding and recruitment.
At the educational institution level, the project creates a new, data-driven way to utilize workplace feedback in the development of curricula and courses. In the long term, the SoTe Resilience concept enhances the sector’s attractiveness and retention, supports continuous learning, and is also applicable to other educational sectors nationwide.

ESR+ Euroopan sosiaalirahasto 2021-2027