The Diverse Working Life series features companies and employers that employ multilingual staff from a variety of sectors. The series takes a diverse look at the experiences, practices and workplace of these organisations. Diverse working environments are encouraged to join
Elomatic is a design and consulting firm working internationally in the industrial sector, providing design, consulting, product development, project management and technology solutions. Its activities focus in particular on the process, mechanical engineering, marine, energy and pharmaceutical industries. Privately owned Elomatic, which started its operations in 1970, is a Turku-based company. Its headquarters are located in Turku. Together, the Elomatic Group employs more than 1300 people. Elomatic has offices in 16 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. In Finland, the offices are located in Turku, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Espoo, Oulu and Pori.
Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding Manager Lotta Kaunonen says that the Turku head office employs around 300 people. The majority work in specialist positions, engineering design and consulting, and in various roles in business development and project management. In total, the Group employs around 36 professionals of different nationalities. The average age is 43.6 years, more than four out of five have a university degree and around thirty percent are women. Kaunonen says that the working language has changed over the years, increasingly to English, as a result of customer projects and internationalisation. English is also the main language for internal communication. Finnish is also still used, depending on the tasks, teams and clients' needs, and local languages are used in international offices.
- We are always looking for a variety of technical talent to join us. Our goal is to find the best solutions for our customers' needs, so different perspectives, backgrounds and skills are key. In addition, a wide range of language and cultural skills are definitely useful in work and in working life in general.
Finnish engineering education and skills are valued worldwide, and professional development and skills continue to develop throughout working life. At the same time, employers must increasingly focus on flexibility and a variety of ways of working. Alongside a high level of skills, a people-oriented culture, a sense of community and a low hierarchy within the company are factors for success.
- I would say that when working for us, technical skills are the most important, but alongside that we particularly value the ability to work flexibly in different situations and teams, and a solution-oriented approach to the different needs of our customers. An understanding of the business, a desire to grow as a professional and to continuously improve our work and our operations underpin this. Work is always a collaboration, where different people together create the best customer solutions," says Kaunonen.
Elomatic invests in an inclusive culture, continuous learning and doing things together not only during working hours, but also in our free time. During the spring, for example, we have participated in a wide range of sporting events, held a wellbeing day in our offices, and provided breakout sessions, leisure activities and clubs. I can see that our working culture as a whole is one of the reasons why people come to work for us and enjoy long careers, Kaunonen says.
- All our offices have a nice feeling about working. Here in Turku, we have good conditions to operate, as the expertise in the maritime industry in particular is strong on the west coast. We work on interesting projects in different business areas in cooperation with a wide network of partners. In Turku, the proximity of the archipelago and the sea is a value in itself for us, and we place a lot of emphasis on responsibility in our work.
Diverse Internationality
Elomatic's operations are international in many ways. The company operates in a global market and, for example, job opportunities are available internally in different roles internationally. Project teams are assembled according to the needs of clients to ensure that the right people are involved. This sometimes also means opportunities to move abroad for a project or to work as a hybrid with international colleagues. Multiculturalism is a natural part of the business and is something that is invested in.
- Management and working in multicultural work communities is important. We also train our frontline staff on these topics. We want everyone to feel comfortable and to be able to act as themselves. For international recruitment, we have sometimes also used relocation service providers, which has been a great help to us. For us, language options for communication and orientation, for example, as well as language coaching contribute to multiculturalism and common communication," says Lotta Kaunonen.
The company's main recruitment channels are public job search platforms such as Job Market, Duunitori, its own website and social media channels, and internal networks. In addition, cooperation with educational institutions is an important part of recruiting the talent of the future. Long-term cooperation with universities and universities of applied sciences has enabled students to meet each other in teaching, in project work and at events. Elomatic employs dozens of trainees every year and offers op- We generally receive good applications for both trainee and specialist roles. This year we have received a record number of applications, around three thousand. Around half of these have come from international students or foreign language speakers. As a rule, international applicants are very active and motivated. This may be reflected in their approach by email, telephone or via LinkedIn, rather than the application form. Being active in your job search is really important, but it is also good to respect the recruitment process, the communication channels and the time allocated for contact. Language requirements in job advertisements can also sometimes cause confusion. We always try to be clear about the language skills or options required in the job advertisement, and fortunately we have many roles where English is a good language," says Kaunonen.
- As a rule, we receive good applications for both trainee and specialist roles. This year we have received a record number of applications, around three thousand. Around half of these have come from international students or foreign language students. As a rule, international applicants are very active and motivated. This may be reflected in their approach by email, telephone or via LinkedIn, rather than the application form. Being active in your job search is really important, but it is also good to respect the recruitment process, the communication channels and the time allocated for contact. Language requirements in job advertisements can also sometimes cause confusion. We always try to be clear about the language skills or options required in the job advertisement, and fortunately we have many roles where English is a good language," says Kaunonen.
Public Employment Services are active, Kaunonen says. She feels she has been well informed about the basic services of the Turku employment region, in addition to which, for example, she is well informed about current financial incentives for hiring employees, such as the SME voucher. In addition to job advertisements, Elomatic has cooperated with the Employment Services, for example through events and conversion training. Cooperation with different actors has been important in reaching out to talent in Finland and internationally.
- There could be a lot of new opportunities for cooperation and activities between employers, Employment Services and educational institutions, as we all have common goals to connect talent and jobs. The visibility and attractiveness of different sectors and the matching of talent and jobs is based on cooperation between different sectors and educational institutions. For example, instead of large-scale recruitment events, I would like to see more sector-specific events and meeting points.
Finally, Kaunonen says that Elomatic wants to continue to grow and develop internationally, and also to increase its diverse pool of talent in Finland and abroad. International talent is an important way to ensure future skills, and this means diverse recruitment channels, bold recruitments, flexibility in language requirements, understanding and continuous development of multiculturalism in structures, communication, skills and attitudes.
- Follow Elomatic on social media! And if you want to join a growing company where you can work on interesting customer projects and work in a human, international and forward-looking environment, you should definitely apply to work for us, Kaunonen concludes.
This article was translated by AI and reviewed by human.
The Diverse Working Life series, part 7. This series of articles is produced by the City of Turku's ESR+ project, which is co-funded by the European Union. Employers from different sectors are encouraged to participate in the series of stories. If you would like your organisation to get involved, please contact: