Get to know the Attractiveness through International Experts (VeKO) project!

The VeKO project started operating at full capacity at the end of September. In each meeting, there was a need and desire to keep the international experts already in the province in the area and to welcome new experts to companies and communities in northern Savonia.

Kick-off Seminar 23.9.2020

The fully booked seminar was attended by almost fifty representatives of companies, educational institutions and organizations interested in the VeKO project and the seminar's theme - Diverse and competent work community. In the opening speeches of the seminar, Kristel Kivisik, Director of Immigration Services at Spring House Oy, spoke about the background of the project and Tanja Manner, project manager of the VeKO project, presented the project's goals and activities as part of North Savo's evolving Talent Hub ecosystem.

Katri Nikkinen (Charles River Laboratories), chair of the project steering group, emphasized the importance of joint commitment and cooperation in developing services for the needs of companies in the region and international experts. The main theme of the seminar was opened and indicators assessing the diversity readiness of companies were presented. Participants were also able to answer some questions that map their own organization’s practices.

Representatives of companies operating in the province and the talents working in them participated in the panel discussion led by VeKO's Mirka Niskala and Marco Rigano. Representatives of the companies Pauliina Tuovinen (FinVector Oy), Kirsi Kannassalo (Oy Medfiles Ltd) and Teemu Wilander (3D talo Finland Oy) spoke about the challenges of finding a skilled workforce. Despite the pandemic, companies have vacancies, and the nature of the job determines the required level of proficiency in the Finnish language.

International experts Sudipta Chatterjee (Oy Medfiles Ltd), Inabat Seytnazarova (North Savo TE-Office), Orkun Ceylan (3D Talo Finland Oy) and Gareth Callan (FinVector Oy) emphasized the importance of talent's own activity and networking in finding a job in North Savo that matches education. They also hoped that the companies in the province would be open-minded and have more opportunities for international experts to show their skills and potential.

Photo description: With Tanja Manner (left), Katri Nikkinen, Chairman of the Steering Group, Charles River Laboratories, and Johanna Haapakorva, Deputy Chairman of the Steering Group, Kuopio Chamber of Commerce.

Steering group meeting on 24 September 2020

The steering group of the VeKO project met for the first time the day after the seminar. The steering group has extensive expertise and regional representation of companies and stakeholders in the province. The discussion focused on the challenges related to international talent recruitment and proposals for their solution. The lively discussion of the group showed commitment and provided good sparring for the project manager and the whole project.

MessiLive and Talent Hub collaboration on September 30, 2020

VeKO's Tanja Manner and Marco Rigano participated in the North Savo Talent Hub's Kick-off broadcast at MessiLive with project manager Jarkko Surakka (Savonia University of Applied Sciences). Antti Nurmi (Charles River Laboratories) described the experiences and needs of the business field and Pipa Turvanen (TEM) spoke about current news about the Talent Boost program, which also includes the Talent Hub ecosystem and projects under construction in the province.

Project presentation: Talent Boost ja Talent Hub tukena kansainvälisten osaajien palkkaamisessa
Marco's tips for Talents: Job searching with higher education?

VeKO's operations will continue with workshops for companies. Come along with your company and contact us!

VeKO team

Photo: Team from left:
Project Manager, tanja.manner@springhouse.fi Project Specialist, mirka.niskala@springhouse.fi Integration Specialist, marco.rigano@springhouse.fi