A community for knowledge and cultural exchange

Deloitte is an international workplace with offices in almost all countries around the world. Every year, several international Deloitte employees come to work in Sweden on a time-bound secondment, usually spanning a few years. In addition, there are many foreign residents living in Sweden who choose to make Deloitte a part of their career. Staff transfers, and all related matters, have brought about the need for Deloitte’s International Community; a forum for people with an international background to ease their transition of moving to a new country.

Giuseppe Gilio and Gillian Wong Miswardi are two of the almost one hundred members in the International Community. Giuseppe, originally from Italy, came to Sweden seven years ago to work and create a life here. Gillian, originally from Singapore, came here after winning a competition where the prize was a six month internship, and ended up studying her master’s at Stockholm School of Economics.

Today they both work at Deloitte Sweden – Giuseppe in the immigration team at Tax & Legal, and Gillian within Consulting’s Technology Strategy & Transformation offering. They are also both engaged in the International Community.

– When I first came to Sweden and started at Deloitte, it was calming to know that there were other people in the same situation as me, that had moved to Sweden from another country and that had been through the same process. Through our community we can help each other by sharing our experiences and knowledge, says Giuseppe.
 

Offers Swedish language classes

The International Community organizes meetups and events to help their members to get in contact with Swedish people at Deloitte, get practical tips, and build a network.

– By attending the meetups, I’ve gotten to know people that I normally wouldn’t interact with, for example, from other departments and nationalities. A diverse network makes my work life more interesting, says Gillian.

Both Giuseppe and Gillian speak Swedish most of their workday. Hence, learning Swedish has been a priority for them. Through a collaboration between the International Community and HR, Deloitte is able to offer international employees a course in Swedish.

– Learning the language is the first step to get integrated into a new country and being able to speak Swedish makes me feel like a bigger part of Swedish society. I am very happy that we have this option at Deloitte, says Giuseppe.
 

A lot of ideas moving forward

Even though members of the community want to get to know about Sweden, they also want to give back to all employees at Deloitte by sharing their culture of origin. Over the years, they have organised an autumn pub event with an international theme, an international fika with homemade specialities, and a visit to a Christmas market in Stockholm.

Individual members have also taken the initiative to organize events during the pandemic, including a virtual fika for employees with a Chinese background. This initiative has been greatly appreciated, especially since many international employees have not been able to travel to their home countries. Keeping connected to others with a similar background has alleviated some of the challenges faced by internationals in the recent months.

Going forward beyond the pandemic, the international community has a lot of ideas.

– We have a lot to learn from each other, and we want to be able to create forums to exchange languages, knowledge and to share our different cultures. People at Deloitte are very open and helpful, and they strive to create an inclusive environment for others, says Gillian.