Summer employees are an indispensable resource for Reka Cables
As in previous years, summer employees have been working in production and maintenance at all Reka Cables Ltd locations – Hyvinkää, Keuruu and Riihimäki. An essential resource for Reka, summer employees allow us to keep our production up and running in the summer. We talked to a few Reka summer employees about their work in cable production.
Onni, who just graduated from high school, ended up working at Reka Keuruu in the footsteps of his father Niko. Before this summer, Onni had participated in a school work practice programme at Reka and worked in outdoor maintenance for a short summer period.
Onni started working at Reka after taking the matriculation examination and plans to continue at least until the autumn. He will start his military service in January. Onni works at Reka’s dispatch department. His duties include taking care of the pick lists used to record the cable drum dimensions and numbers from Reka’s system. He also orders transportation for the drums through Reka’s partner Kaukokiito and drives a forklift, if necessary, having completed forklift operator training as soon as he started working for Reka this summer.
According to Onni, the job is very varied: “Sometimes we’re busy, sometimes a bit less so. There’s no need to stress without reason. I’ve liked everything I have worked on so far. I’ve enjoyed working here.”
Onni says that Reka is a reliable employer that pays the wages in due time and takes care of its employees by means of providing occupational health services, for instance. He cannot name any areas of development.
Onni’s summer plans still include a trip to Croatia. Other than that, it’s work as usual on weekdays.
Kesäsuunnitelmissa on vielä reissu Kroatiaan, muuten kesä kulunee arkisin työn merkeissä.
Maria started working for Reka Keuruu in March after learning that Reka was seeking summer employees. Maria works in packaging. Her duties include, amongst other things, packing cables from the large drums to smaller drums. “I enjoy being busy all the time instead of just sitting around. Time goes faster that way,” Maria says.
According to Maria, safety instructions were discussed comprehensively at least three times and a lot of emphasis is put on safety. Maria also enjoys the atmosphere: “All the supervisors are nice and cool, and this is a very flexible workplace. It’s easy to be and work here.”
Maria, who has finished high school, hopes to study engineering at the university level in Tampere. She is also interested in working abroad, perhaps through an exchange programme.
Rasmus started to work in testing at the Hyvinkää plant at the beginning of May. Rasmus saw an advertisement on the website of an employment service company and then ended up working for Reka. Rasmus will go to upper secondary school for adults in the autumn after the summer work period.
Rasmus’ duties in testing include cable peeling and voltage measurements, among other things. The cables are also prepared for transportation. Since Rasmus has only worked in testing for a short period of time, he works with a more experienced employee, but later in the summer, he will begin to work independently. According to Rasmus, job orientation was adequate and made it easy to get started on the job.
He finds that the best part of the job is relaxed atmosphere and conversations with other Reka employees: “It’s been really pleasant. I always get help when I need it, and everyone is really nice!”
Juho started as a trainee in April and then continued as a summer employee at Reka Cables Riihimäki. His family suggested that he should ask Reka for a traineeship, which was easily arranged. In the autumn 2023, Juho will start his final year of studies for the vocational qualification in Electrical Engineering and Automation Technology at Hyria.
At Reka, Juho has been working in varied maintenance and repair duties. Juho always works as a team with an experienced colleague.
“I enjoy working with my hands. The electrical sector is definitely something for me. Every day is different. Reka has made a positive impact. Things get done, but the atmosphere is still relaxed,” Juho says about his summer at Reka.
Salla has been working for Reka Hyvinkää since April. She was looking to work independently and found Reka through a recruitment agency. “I was wondering whether it was possible to get a summer job in the cable industry without a degree and previous experience. I knew nothing about cables just five months ago. I Googled Reka Cables. That was all I knew about it.”
Salla graduated from high school in the spring of 2023 and now plans to take a gap year. In the future, she might want to study industrial engineering or mathematics. Salla will work for Reka Cables at least until the end of September.
Salla works in aluminium wire production, producing different dimensions of aluminium wires for the cables. Her duties mostly comprise the monitoring of machines and the process. In addition, her work includes series changes and moving spools, drums and barrels. Lifting aids are naturally used since the wire spools, for example, weigh dozens of kilograms. Salla says that safety has been discussed thoroughly with new employees.
The physical nature of the work came as a surprise to some degree, even though this was already discussed during the application process. Being fit helps, and Salla herself has a long background in football.
The colleagues support each other: “Everyone has helped me, and now, after five months of working, I’m starting to be able to do things on my own as well. I still have a lot to learn, but you learn by doing.”
“I have enjoyed working here. It’s very different from the jobs I’ve had before. I’ve enjoyed shift work since I have had lots of time to enjoy the summer during the longer breaks,” Salla adds.