“For a while, we also repeated the mantra that it was difficult to find skilled workers in the harvesting chain and wondered whose job it was to train them. Then we stopped banging our heads against the wall and started building a study path that suited our needs,” says the chairman of the board of the company, which has its headquarters in Multia. Kai WideThe company's CEO is his brother. Aki Wide.
Arrangements to acquire labor were initiated in 2013.
“We started the project even before Metsä Group’s investment decision for the Äänekoski bioproduct mill. We had to ensure sufficient workforce in our production chain. We also considered making our product development more efficient. We saw our personnel as the most important investment target.”
Metsä-Multi employed approximately 2013 people in 50.
Today, the company, which specializes in logging, local wood transportation, energy wood harvesting, and soil cultivation, employs 130 people.
Kai Laaja points out that the forestry sector is an extremely important value creator for the national economy.
“In our own value chain, 1,6 million cubic meters of wood are harvested annually. The amount of money left over for the province is approximately 100 million euros.”
Looking for good guys
The traditional model for jobs in the field is through forestry studies at vocational colleges.
"The students then apply for work-study positions. We do it differently. We interview good people who are interested in the industry and want to work for us. We offer a practical learning environment and also guarantee a job for those who graduate from the path."
Cooperation with educational institutions is still important to Metsä-Multia.
"The theoretical side and general education are the school's business. Especially for those who come to us from junior high school, we consider it important that they receive a vocational qualification."
Metsä-Multia's study path attracts applicants from both educational institutions and those changing fields.
“Currently, we have four people on our learning path. Two adults who are changing careers and two junior high school friends. So now it’s fifty-fifty, but the ratio varies.”
Almost all of those who come to Study Pathway are from Central Finland.
“From Multi to Jyväskylä, Äänekoski and Mänttä, as well as Saarijärvi and Toivakka. 99 percent of the applicants come from this area.”
Harvester's Charm
A training contract with an educational institution can only be converted into an apprenticeship once the person's skills have been developed to a sufficient level.
“It happens around the third year, after about 500 machine hours.”
The most interesting machine is the harvester, but it's hard to get into its needles.
"Many young people are in a hurry to get into the harvester, but first you really need to understand what this work is all about."
The idea is, to put it mildly, that a valuable harvester is not a gaming machine, but a production machine that makes a lot of money in the forest.
"This usually happens with us, where you study the driving machinery side until you enter the army. Only after the army is it the harvester's turn."
Forest-Multia Ltd.
– Founded in Multia in 1977
– Current owners Kai and Aki Laaja
– Turnover 17,8 M€
– Personnel 130
– 37 harvesters and 36 forwarders
– The company, operating in central Finland, focuses on timber harvesting, local timber transportation, land preparation and planning.
– Customers include Metsä Group, Versowood Oy, the Forest Management Association of Central Finland and Päijänne, and UPM Metsä.
