Fazer’s gift to 100-year-old Finland: 125 Opportunities for Working Life
Fazer is launching a two-year recruitment training initiative in co-operation with the Helsinki Deaconess Institute in autumn 2016. The “125 Opportunities for Working Life” initiative is for people who have difficulty finding employment and it includes face-to-face training and on-the-job learning. The goal is to offer further career paths at Fazer for as many of the people who take part in the initiative as possible. This initiative is Fazer's gift to Finland in its centennial year.
In its 125thanniversary, Fazer is making a substantial investment in Finnish work. The initiative aims to offer opportunities to the long-term unemployed, unemployed young people, immigrants and people with reduced functional ability. Fazer has a continuous need for skilled and motivated employees and this initiative is also an investment in future manpower. In addition, Fazer will invest 100 million euros in Finland over the next three years.
“Finnish work and professional skills have been building Fazer for 125 years. I am proud of and pleased about the fact that we are able to present such a significant gift to Finland. If we can usher even one person with difficulties finding employment into working life, we will have achieved something valuable. There is talent in all people – sometimes it requires special effort to find it,” says Christoph Vitzthum, President and CEO of the Fazer Group.
The initiative will be carried out in cooperation with the Helsinki Deaconess Institute. The aim is for the initiative to have a considerable impact on society at large and start a new way of recruiting people on a larger scale as well.
“Next year, the Helsinki Deaconess Institute will celebrate its 150thanniversary and this initiative is a wonderful start for our jubilee. Our mission is to create new solutions and opportunities for people who are in danger of being excluded. Training is one of the most important means. The initiative we have launched with Fazer has great social significance and it fulfils our mission very well. Permanent change is best achieved through cooperation,” says Olli Holmström, Managing Director of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute.
Varied opportunities for work
The applications will be submitted through a TE Office. A 1–2 week period will be arranged before the actual training begins, during which the persons' skills and suitability for the industry are charted and different options are discussed. Those not selected to the training will be offered opportunities for job coaching by the Helsinki Deaconess Institute.
Each training group will be composed of approximately 20 people and the groups will focus either on a food industry theme or the theme of industrial catering and the restaurant industry. Depending on the theme, the duration of the training will be 3 to 6 months. The training will consist of face-to-face education and on-the-job learning periods at Fazer’s different business areas. Job opportunities are available in Fazer’s bakeries, confectionery production, restaurants, cafés and the new visitor centre to be opened in the autumn. The teams and supervisors involved at Fazer will be trained and receive constant support during the initiative.
The first group will kick off in September, and the initiative will continue through 2017. All in all, the target is to find 125 people with difficulties finding employment and offer them new kinds of opportunities. The goal is to offer either permanent employment at Fazer or a path through the Helsinki Deaconess Institute’s Työpiiri employment project for as many of the people who take part in the initiative as possible.
Additional information:
Liisa Eerola, Director, Confectionery Communications & Group Partnerships, Fazer Group, tel.: +358 44 710 8860.
Fazer's media phone line is open Mon–Fri from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., tel.: +358 40 668 2998.
Emails are in the form firstname.lastname@fazer.com
Laura Niemi, Communications Director, Helsinki Deaconess Institute, tel.: +358 503738602
Emails are in the form firstname.lastname@hdl.fi
Fazer Group
Fazer is an international family-owned company offering quality bakery, confectionery, biscuit and grain products as well as food and café services. Fazer operates in eight countries and exports to around 40 countries. Fazer’s mission is to create taste sensations. Fazer’s success, ever since its establishment in 1891, has been based on the best product and service quality, beloved brands, the passion of its skilful people and the Group’s responsible ways of working. This year marks Fazer’s 125th anniversary and 150 years from the birth of Karl Fazer, the founder of this successful Group. In 2015, Fazer Group had net sales of more than 1.5 billion euros and nearly 15,000 employees. Fazer’s operations comply with ethical principles that are based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact.
Makes the world taste good
Fazer Group
Fazer is an international family-owned company offering quality bakery, confectionery, biscuit and grain products as well as food and café services. Fazer operates in eight countries and exports to around 40 countries. Fazer’s mission is to create taste sensations. Fazer’s success, ever since its establishment in 1891, has been based on the best product and service quality, beloved brands, the passion of its skilful people and the Group’s responsible ways of working. This year marks Fazer’s 125th anniversary and 150 years from the birth of Karl Fazer, the founder of this successful Group. In 2015, Fazer Group had net sales of more than 1.5 billion euros and nearly 15,000 employees. Fazer’s operations comply with ethical principles that are based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact.
Makes the world taste good
