News / 5.6.2014

Helsingin Energia hires record number of summer workers

This summer, some 120 summer workers have started or will start work at the Helen Group – a much higher number than in previous years. At 6,500, the number of applications was also a new record.

Our summer workers include students from various levels of education, and they will work at tasks such as installation and maintenance, customer service, financial administration, warehouse work and cleaning. Thanks to the large modernisation project underway at our Salmisaari power plant, Helsingin Energia was able to offer summer jobs to more young applicants than ever before.

Teemu Alonen, an automation and system technology student at the Aalto University, got a job as an assistant to the site manager. His position includes both office and field work.

“The Salmisaari power plant project is an excellent opportunity to familiarise myself with the power plant in general as well as with automation and the implementation of a large project in the business world. My experience with the Helen Group as an employer has been very positive. They invest in occupational safety and maintenance of their facilities, and co-workers are nice and not without a sense of humour. The Helen Group offers the advantage of a big company. I have been well received,” says Alonen.

Responsible employer

This is the third time Helsingin Energia and Helen Sähköverkko Oy participate in the Vastuullinen kesäduuni (“Responsible summer job”) campaign whose participants are committed to the principles of a good summer job as part of their corporate responsibility. In 2012, Helen Sähköverkko Oy was awarded the first prize in the Vastuullisin kesäduuni 2012 (“The  Responsible Summer Job 2012”) competition in the small business category.

“For us, the summer workers are also an important investment in the future. We want to do our part in supporting the professional skills and know-how of our young citizens by offering them not only summer jobs but also opportunities for thesis work and professional training,” Johanna Aholainen, Head of HR at Helsingin Energia, tells us.

Helsingin Energia has a long tradition of collaboration with different schools and is interested in developing it further.

The collaboration starts early in education. Among other things, Helsingin Energia participates in Yrityskylä (Me & My City),  a learning environment intended for sixth formers offering business education and training in work skills. Engineering students from Technical Universities and engineers from Universities of Applied Sciences are offered tours of power plants and given information on skills requirements in the energy industry. The Group also employs trainees, many of whom will use their experience to complete their thesis work. Vocational students are offered on-the-job learning opportunities in areas such as mechanical engineering and electrical installation.

The Helen Group employs approximately 1,300 people.