Lithuanian firm looks to western Europe to fill job vacancies
multi-functional food manufacturing has meant challenges finding
skilled staff to operate its new pasta line. In its quest the
company says that it will have to turn towards western Europe to
find the right people for the job.
"Although Lithuanian food processing is now run at a very high standard, there are certain areas where technical knowledge is a problem," said Malsena managing director Mindaugas Gedvilas. "In this instance Malsena's move into pasta production is a pioneering one because we are the first high volume producer in the Baltic region."
At the beginning of the year Malsena, which is one of the leading suppliers of flour to the industrial and home bakery sectors in the Baltics, announced that it was moving into the production of pasta in an attempt to reduce its reliance on commodities. According to Gedvilas, implementation of the Buhler-supplied production line has run smoothly, with the plant on schedule to come on line at the end of the summer.
However, finding someone to oversee the production line has not proved to be as straightforward, "The technology on this particular production line is very different to anything used in this region before, simply because we are the first large scale pasta producer here, and as a result this type of machinery is new to prospective producers," Gedvilas explained
"As a consequence we are finding ourselves moving against the general trend with our staffing requirements. Whereas businesses in western Europe are increasingly turning towards eastern Europe to fill manufacturing positions, we are actively seeking to employ individuals from western Europe, because this is the only place where skilled machinery operators of this type can be found at the moment."
"We are looking in both Austria and Germany in an attempt to find someone with the right experience. What I intend to do is bring a skilled worker in on a temporary basis. That person will then be contracted in to oversee the start-up of production and to ensure that the staff on the new production line are adequately trained to use the equipment."
Having invested nearly €2 million in the new production line, finding the staff will be a difficult but crucial task. However, once fulfilled, a production volume of 2 tons of pasta a day is expected to make the company the leading pasta provider in the Baltics. And by the end of the year Gedvilas hopes that this will increase his company turnover by as much as 15 per cent.
