This symposium examines the role of entrepreneurship in the inclusion of international migrants in Nordic business life, engaging directly with the conference theme “Global challenges and local strategies.” The Nordic countries face demographic pressures, skill shortages, and tightening migration regimes, yet small open economies depend on talent inflow and circulation to sustain innovation and competitiveness. Entrepreneurship is frequently promoted as a pathway for migrants to participate in working life, and the employment of migrants is seen as a mechanism for firms in the receiving location to benefit from international perspectives, networks and languages. Yet the actual dynamics are more complex, requiring a nuanced discussion.

Working in a small firm or starting one may offer migrants accessible entry points to local labor markets, and many migrants indeed engage in entrepreneurship, contributing importantly to local economies. Recruiting international employees may enhance SMEs’ competitiveness, for example through cultural brokerage, market access and multilingual capabilities. On the other hand, SMEs often operate with limited resources, few formal HR practices, and strong reliance on local language proficiency, hampering their ability to hire, support, and retain internationally mobile workers. Entrepreneurship may therefore function as an adaptive strategy for migrants facing job market barriers, and may be a genuine opportunity, but it can also reflect structural constraints or necessity. Furthermore, in the gig economy firms may rely on entrepreneurial arrangements to circumvent institutional rigidities, shifting risks onto individuals.

Against this background, the symposium highlights perspectives on migrant entrepreneurship from international business, entrepreneurship, HRM, intersectional studies, migration research and public policy. It aims to foster dialogue on the relationship between international mobility, migrant inclusion and entrepreneurship. We seek to generate new insights into how Nordic societies, firms and other stakeholders can jointly craft locally grounded strategies and practices in this arena to meet growing global challenges.