Skillbee staffing services successfully consigned 6 spray painters to Finland.
Table of Contents
Shortage of Workers
A leading shipyard in Rauma, Finland, was looking for spray painters for the last 12 months but was not able to find sufficient talent locally. They not only tried finding EU workers from Estonia, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine, but also tried to find them in Asia, but did not see any success.
Problems Faced
- Lack of workers who are skilled to do the job causes production delays
- Lack of trustworthy partners who follow EU compliance risking the company’s brand
Rauma is a small city in Finland with a population of fewer than 32,000 people. Most of the city’s youth usually move to Helsinki and very few high school students were joining vocational trade training. This has led to a huge shortfall in the workforce in the skilled trades segment. Eventually, the local industries where companies struggle for talent and hence often even fail in meeting production deadlines.
The shipyard in Rauma was struggling with the same issues due to a shortage of spray painters. They had explored Romania and Ukraine earlier as markets to hire workers, but the rising wages for such workers available within the EU and lack of quality talent (who otherwise have migrated to Germany and France) had led them to explore alternatives towards non-EU workers. They also tried engaging with agencies in India, but a large majority of them weren’t following the ethical recruitment policies and compliance as mandated by Finnish laws.
The shipyard risked its delayed production deadlines and yet didn’t want to engage unethical agencies that could tarnish its image in the Finland market due to its unscrupulous hiring practices and opaque recruitment costs levied on workers. They needed a complete and compliant solution, which they soon found in Skillbee.
Solution: Choosing a Partner
A. The start – sharing demand with Skillbee as a partner:
The shipyard approached Skillbee on 1 August, to hold a preliminary discussion on hiring Spray painters from India. The demo of Skillbee’s hiring products including the Android worker app which already served 1M+ workers and a digitally-led approach to hiring workers (and already has helped more than 30,000 companies in international recruitment earlier) impressed the Finnish HRs to consider Skillbee as a relevant partner for their needs. It was in 2 days they decided to collaborate on hiring a pilot batch of spray painters from India and sign a mutual contract for the same.
B. The process
Demand Letter and Sourcing:
Once the contract was signed, the shipyard briefed Skillbee about skill requirements and English speaking proficiency required to be effective at the worksite. This kicked off a hiring drive exclusively with Skillbee. Post contract signing and obtaining demand, it was important for Skillbee to set up a team of expert recruiters to not only source through its extensive database of 1M+ workers but also ensure there was a good fit in terms of English and skill requirement of the job.
Within 1 week, a good pipeline of 10 candidates was lined up before the HR for Zoom interviews.
Interviews:
From the above-shortlisted candidates for the interview, we also provided screening services to our client. In the next couple of days, Skillbee conducted interviews of selected candidates with the company – all that evaluated them on their skills, English proficiency, and behavioral attitude. Our candidates excelled in the interview process and were informed that 6 candidates would be going to Finland for the first time ever. Quite thrilling for all of us!
Work permit and Visa:
Skillbee started the documentation process on August 20th, as their work permit arrived within 2-3 days after confirmation of employment.
All candidates also had medical check-ups and filled in visa and work permit applications, waiting for their Visas to arrive. While we all were waiting for the visas eagerly, all 6 candidates were educated about Finland, its work culture, and its lifestyle.
Unlike traditional agencies where the entire process takes nothing less than 7-12 months from start to end, Skillbee completed the process in only 14 weeks.
Results & Lessons Learnt
- Record time deployment of spray painters into Finland (3 months compared to 12 months)
- Highly productive workforce and client satisfaction for the worksite
The Rauma shipyard had entrusted Skillbee with this project and we delivered in record time. Baddi Eswara Rao, Mittana Janardhan Reddy, Rakesh, Sathiyaraj Ambalagam, Vinoth, and Ketha Srinu, had looked forward to starting a life in Finland. All of them had been excited ever since the visas had arrived and Skillbee assisted them seamlessly in booking flight tickets, necessary expenditures, and other arrangements. They expressed their gratitude towards Skillbee and took their long flight.
On November 8, 2022, finally, the 6 spray painters landed in Finland and finally reached the shipyard. From selection to flying abroad, these 6 workers, for the first time traveled thousands of miles away from their country for work thanks to Skillbee Hiring Services which helps companies across the globe to hire skilled workers from overseas. The client shipyard as well found that the group of 6 workers is extremely productive, and saw their total output in the spray painter division actually go up…
Success Testimonials
Skillbee’s Offerings Relevant to You
Skillbee assists in helping enterprises unlock value by removing bottlenecks due to a shortage of workers.
- 100% customer satisfaction
- Screening services
- HR support
- Document verification, administration, and compliance
- Flexibility to scale up business operations
- Assistance in flight bookings and other arrangements
If you wish to unlock your company’s potential by hiring the best quality talent internationally and maintaining ethical recruitment practices with strong compliance, partner with Skillbee today by writing to us at contact@skillbee.com