Case: Škoda Group Region North
International Recruitment Strengthens longstanding collaboration
Solutions used:
Industry:
Challenge
Škoda Transtech has had recurring needs over the years to find suitable workers for the production of medium-heavy machine shop products at its Otanmäki factory, as well as for tram conversion and maintenance work at a depot in Helsinki. The labour shortage prevalent in the industry, the strict standards applied to the work, and the project-based nature of the work have all posed challenges for recruitment.
Solution
Barona has become a long-term partner for Škoda Transtech, offering new solutions as the labour market has changed. The company’s workforce needs have been successfully met, for example through international recruitment. With Barona’s help, it is ensured that workers have the professional skills required for the job, regardless of their background.
Škoda has shown a willingness to evolve with the world and modernise in the recruitment market as well. For this reason, the company — Europe’s leading contract manufacturer of rail vehicles designed for demanding conditions and medium-heavy machine shop products — has chosen Barona as one of its partners.
Collaboration on recruitment has been ongoing for several years, and along the way it has been natural to deepen and direct it according to Škoda’s needs. The growing production demand at the Otanmäki factory creates workforce sizing challenges, making it easy to rely on a familiar and trusted partner.
– When the order book has risen, we have needed skilled workers, sometimes on short notice, for both welding and machining. Thanks to Barona’s strong recruitment expertise, channels, and visibility, we have been able to get the workers we need flexibly and quickly, says Škoda’s Senior HR Specialist Johanna Keski-Petäjä.
When Barona proposed international recruitment, we embraced it with an experimental attitude, and it has gotten off to a really great start. From our perspective, it is excellent that the workers’ skills are verified through practical tests before they even arrive to work for us, and that the partner helps arrange their arrival here.
– Johanna Keski-Petäjä, Senior HR Specialist, Škoda Group Region North
International Recruitment Has Brought Skilled Workers to the Factory
In 2022, 80 employees were successfully hired at the Otanmäki factory, and during the current year the headcount is intended to grow by roughly the same number. Finding available skilled workers from Finland has been particularly challenging on the welding side.
Barona and Škoda have for some time been carrying out productive cooperation at Otanmäki, including on international recruitment. In the spring of 2020, CNC machinists arrived from Poland, followed by welders later in August.
– Most recently, around ten welders have been recruited from the Philippines through Barona, and they are set to start work at the factory in June. Their targeted training is being arranged jointly with Kainuu Vocational College, says Johanna Keski-Petäjä.
International recruitment has been facilitated by the fact that the Otanmäki factory already employs a quite multicultural workforce. Among approximately 650 employees, there are as many as 15 different nationalities, and supervisors have accumulated diverse language skills.
– When Barona proposed international recruitment, we embraced it with an experimental attitude, and it has gotten off to a really great start. From our perspective, it is excellent that the workers’ skills are verified through practical tests before they even arrive to work for us, and that the partner helps arrange their arrival here, Keski-Petäjä says.
The Otanmäki factory, which focuses on manufacturing double-deck passenger carriages and low-floor trams, operates under demanding standards, and workers are required to have truly high-level expertise.
– The workers who have arrived have had a very high level of foundational skills and have very quickly adapted to the demands of the work, Keski-Petäjä iloitsee.
The people recruited through Barona have genuinely been a good fit for us — both in terms of skills and personality. Barona clearly has an understanding of our industry, what we do, and what kind of people we need.
– Mervi Tarvainen, Head of Helsinki depot, Škoda Group Region North
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