Around 5,000 young people have K-jobs this summer

 KESKO CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 18.2.2015 1(1)

This summer, K-retailers and Kesko will employ approximately 5,000 summer employees. The number is about the same as last year. The K-Group is one of the biggest summer employers in Finland.

Most of the summer jobs to young people and students in the K-Group are offered by K-food stores. Summer is the high season for building and home improvement stores, which also hire seasonal employees for yard and garden departments. Kesko, for its part, employs summer staff for warehouses for example.

"The total number is divided so that K-retailers hire slightly less than 4,000 people and Kesko Group with its subsidiaries more than 1,000 summer employees," says Anu Haapoja, Kesko Corporation's Recruitment Specialist.

In retail stores, the duties of young people mainly consist of shelving, keeping the store neat and tidy, and customer service. Particularly in small stores duties get more varied and involve more responsibility is given as the summer goes on and the employee learns more.

"We K-Group people share enthusiasm in retailing and a retailer approach, which is reflected in the positive attitude of getting things done, readiness to take responsibility and opportunities to influence on how work is done," Haapoja says, listing some important features of applicants.

Most of the summer employees start in June. The summer job season starts in May and continues until the last weeks of August.

Many paths to employment

Kesko and K-stores employ young people through many different channels. The 'Learn and earn' summer training programme gives experience in the trading sector to the very youngest. Many retailers also recruit students to perform on-the-job learning periods included in their studies. A training period well completed may continue as a job in the store. Kesko and K-stores also participate in the Youth Guarantee. Between August 2013 and December 2014, the K-Group employed nearly 2,000 people in the target group of the Youth Guarantee.

"Annually, Kesko and K-stores employ around 10,000 people aged under 30 in Finland", Haapoja says.

Further information: Head of HRM Mikko Myyryläinen puh.+358 10 53 22872

Further information about the employment of young people in Kesko and K-stores at http://www.kesko.fi/en/Careers/vacancies/summer-jobs/

Kesko is one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. We are a retail specialist whose chains have about 2,000 stores in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, and Belarus. Our stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers.