US-based US-capital company attracts expats and unemployed – pandemic accelerates

Hollister Lietuva, the capital company of the United States of America, which manufactures health care components, is one of those whose appearance in the Kaunas Free Economic Zone (FEZ) is associated with a significant advance in investment. The company, which officially started operations in 2019, currently has 252 employees, with an average salary of 2,000. 318 euros, and the median is 2,000. 11 euros

The company continues to expand, launching a second plant for urinary incontinence products in late May. It is planned to assemble a team of 130 specialists for the first stage of production by the end of the year, and currently about 60 specialists are working in the production of products for urinary incontinence.

Total investment in the new production line will reach more than 12 million. euros Until now, stoma care products have been made in Kaunas.

Shane Caher, CEO of Hollister Lietuva, told Delfi how successful it is to find new employees during the new coronavirus pandemic.

– At the beginning of the quarantine, Hollister Lietuva announced that he was looking for 130 specialists, the interviews were carried out remotely and by video calls. Has the decision to “meet” with the candidates been practically worth it, and what challenges have you faced in making selections in this way?

– We decided not to stop the selection, because it would depend on our actions and the continuity of the business if we could continue our mission: to help the people who use our products and services to live in a more dignified and comfortable way.

The biggest challenge was connecting to the Internet, which blocked causing inconvenience during job interviews. When we organize selections in the factory, we walk with the candidates, we want them to see with their own eyes how production is going, to feel what the work environment is like. That also had to be temporarily abandoned.

However, there have also been positive developments. Candidates were much more flexible about the timing of the interview, organizing the interview remotely was much easier than inviting them to come to the factory. Even during video calls, we were able to learn about the candidates’ competencies, assess their opportunities, which resulted in us having more than one new colleague, who was recruited during quarantine. During the video calls, the natural emotion of the candidates was also felt and the essential characteristics of the method were revealed. This was not a completely new practice for us: we have had job interviews with Lithuanians living abroad. Perhaps in the wake of this pandemic, many others facing remote sampling have also refuted the prevailing stereotype that this is a fundamentally complicated process.

– How did the pandemic affect the labor market, which positions were most actively applied for and how can these trends be explained?

– We receive the majority of candidates for production-operator jobs. Unfortunately, this pandemic has affected many companies, they have had to make difficult decisions to fire workers. Often, in particular, they reduce the volume of production.

The pandemic of highly skilled professionals was not affected as much, so we did not feel a great increase in interest either. Those who had career plans continued them, and during quarantine we started selecting more than one specialist, we have already completed several selections and selected specialists, we are already completing several selections.

With this step, the Hollister Lietuva plant has moved toward the goal of becoming Hollister Incorporated’s center of expertise. There are also opportunities to produce more products and provide support services to other factories. In turn, Lithuania has the opportunity to develop its potential in the fast-growing, high-value medical device industry.

– Since the company officially opened only in the fall of last year, it is still looking for employees. Naturally, we face a variety of challenges. And how has the pandemic changed the criteria that people use to choose an employer?

– The greatest development in production is expected: shift managers, production operators-workers. Until now, we cannot say that we face extremely difficult difficulties in finding employees, perhaps it could even be said that we no longer face. We are making ourselves known in the labor market, the number of recommendations from employees who already work in the company is increasing.

The pandemic is also likely to have an impact. If in the past people thought less about the company’s field of activity, appreciated the remuneration offered, the work environment and motivational measures, then the quarantine period forced additional attention to be paid to the importance of stability and stability. security. Medical devices are vital for people despite the changing situation in the world. Continuous production also guarantees safe work or even professional growth.

– What decisions does the company make when attracting new employees? Perhaps you can mention in more detail the various motivational programs that provide opportunities for interesting work and improvement?

– Although we officially opened only in 2019, we constantly encourage and educate employees, so not a few of them have already made an internal career. For example, an employee who started from the operator position was seen 6 months later and invited to take the position of shift foreman. A significant number of quality department staff also follow an internal career path. In this department we have employees who have just graduated and have not yet acquired professional experience, but the theoretical knowledge acquired at the university greatly helps the company to achieve excellent results.

One of the criteria by which Lithuania was chosen for the development of the company is people. Values, attitude towards work, company culture are acceptable to Lithuanians, they value and nurture it.

We encourage employees to live healthy lives: we are sponsors of the Kaunas Marathon, we organize healthy lifestyle weeks. We make sure that our factory restaurant offers employees only high-quality, fresh food, and we partially finance breakfast and lunch. Public transport adapts to shift work hours. During the quarantine, thanks to the production workers for their dedication and work in the changing conditions (hygiene, wearing of masks, etc.), we decided to give them bonuses.

– You are one of those foreign capital companies operating in Kaunas FEZ, chosen by people who have returned from emigration. At the beginning of the year, 1 in 6 employees was Lithuanian who had returned from emigration. What is the situation now, what positions are mainly sought by migrants? Do they participate in the national teams while they are in foreign countries or have they already returned to Lithuania?

– It is true that the number of employees who join our team after returning from emigration is increasing. We have already received candidates who have decided to return to live in Lithuania. They indicate both the best economic situation in the country and the opportunity to use the experience gained abroad. After returning to live in Lithuania and joining the team of an international company, there is no significant difference in the cultural sense. Employees feel more confident about their future and career growth opportunities.

The global pandemic has further accelerated these processes. The people who doubted and delayed their plans to return, barely feeling the first threats from COVID-19, decided not to delay and return to Lithuania. We had many candidates and we already have employees who joined the team after returning to Lithuania before introducing strict quarantine conditions. We have a variety of positions for people who have joined after returning from emigration: shift teachers, production workers, project managers, or engineers.

– Employers highly value the experience and focus of the work culture that migrants have acquired while working in foreign companies. Does this rule also apply to your company?

– Experiences can be both positive and negative. Both in Lithuania and abroad. Of course, if we compare an employee who has worked in a small company with Lithuanian capital so far, and one who has work experience in a large foreign corporation, there are differences.

It is easier for a person to master the structure of the company, certain procedures and processes typical of large companies. However, what matters most are personal qualities and a person’s desire to integrate into the culture of the new workplace.

– Due to the coronavirus pandemic, several low-skilled workers, or people who do not have it at all, return to Lithuania in case of crisis. Potentially, they could work in manufacturing or other highly skilled jobs after training. What are the main selection criteria for these positions? How is a person’s motivation to work determined and evaluated?

– Yes, we invite inexperienced candidates to join. We train all employees in the workplace by creating individual learning plans. We also use an electronic learning system, thanks to which we train all company employees.

When looking for employees in Lithuania, we first assess a person’s personality, whether they would feel well integrated into the company culture and whether they could contribute to its preservation. We manufacture sanitary products with a noble mission. Already during the selection process, we pay close attention to the discussion with the candidates, because it is important to us that future employees understand the importance of our products and focus on maintaining and improving the quality of the product processes, as they we demand a lot.

Of course, motivation and the willingness of candidates to work as a team is very important. We tend not to appreciate lack of experience if candidates are highly motivated and excited. The evaluation criteria vary according to the position. For example, when we are looking for engineers, we require engineering education.