The K-Group hired nearly 5,000 summer employees

This year, K-retailers and Kesko have hired nearly 5,000 employees for summer in Finland. Some of them work at stores owned by K-retailers, while some work for the Kesko Group.

The number of applications for summer jobs reached an all time high this spring. No doubt one reason was the impressive advertising campaign ran in early 2007 to find summer employees to the K-Group’s ‘World of opportunities’. In Oulu, for example, the number of applications for summer jobs received by K-citymarket Kaakkuri was nearly seven times that of previous years.

"We had more than 700 applications for our home and speciality goods department, most of them through the Internet. The number was a total surprise to us," says Tuula Honkila, Director of K-citymarket Kaakkuri.Furthermore, retailer Jukka Ruusu adds that approximately 200 young people applied for summer jobs in the food department.

Summer employees are welcomed to the K-Group at induction events arranged throughout Finland in late May and early June. In addition to a compact training package on service and exceeding customer expectations, all summer employees also receive information about the K-Group and get to know other summer employees. Besides personal induction to the work and the working community, all new employees participate the K-Group’s joint online induction training.

"The induction day for summer employees is, to a great extent, based on coaching them in adopting the right service attitude. It is also important for us that from the very beginning summer employees feel that they are part of the wide K-Group and learn about the diverse opportunities offered by the group. We want to ensure that the best ones want to stay with us for longer, as there will be a growing shortage of competent professionals in the future," says Riitta Laitasalo, Kesko’s Senior Vice President, Human Resources.

The extent and diversity of the K-Group provide summer employees with a choice of very different duties. In retail stores, summer employees work as sales assistants, checkout clerks and shelf-stackers, for example. In the Kesko Group, summer employees do office work for instance in financial administration and marketing, and warehouse work in logistics centres.

There are a total of approximately 1,300 K-retailers and they have some 23,000 regular employees. The Kesko Group has some 15,000 employees in Finland, so, in all, the K-Group employs some 38,000 people in Finland.

Further information:
Kesko Corporation, Riitta Laitasalo, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, tel. +358 1053 22060
The K-Retailers’ Association, Managing Director Matti Mettälä, tel. +358 01053 36289

Kesko (www.kesko.fi) is a retail specialist whose stores raise the quality of consumers’ everyday lives by offering highly-appreciated products and services at competitive prices. Kesko operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries and Russia.