Unique program promoting the employment of young people organized by Valmet and the Children and Youth Foundation continues

Valmet Oyj's press release on November 15, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. EET

The second part of the youth program started by Valmet and the Children and Youth Foundation in the spring has started today, November 15, at several of Valmet's units in Finland. As a part of the program Valmet enables paid practical training of three weeks for 100 young people. The participants to the unique program include young people aged 16-29 years who may, for instance, have challenges in finding their own path or with their basic working life skills.

Ninety people applied for the fall program, and the 55 who were chosen started today in the following Valmet units: Espoo, Jyväskylä, Järvenpää, Raisio and Tampere. In the spring, young people also participated at the Tampere, Pori, Ulvila and Kajaani units.

"We wanted to celebrate Valmet's 220-year industrial history and the centenary of Finland's independence in a truly valuable way. Promoting employment among young people is important for society and an investment in the future. I hope that other companies will follow our example and provide young people with paid practical training and opportunities to learn working life skills," says Pasi Laine, President and CEO of Valmet.

Mentors and partners play a significant role in supporting the young people

Valmet's program was planned and is executed in cooperation with the Children and Youth Foundation, Academic Work and WorkPilots. Valmet plans and offers paid training and mentors from Valmet for the young people. The Children and Youth Foundation is responsible for recruiting young people for the program and for coaching their mentors. Academic Work provides the participants with coaching in job seeking and study-related issues as part of the program. WorkPilots helps young people in finding paths for continuing their journey. 

"Each of the participants gets a personal mentor from Valmet, responsible for creating a safe and inspiring environment for the trainees and providing meaningful assignments that help them practice their working life skills and build their self-confidence. I am glad that so many Valmeteers have been ready to help these young people and act as mentors," says Anu Salonsaari-Posti from Valmet's working group for the youth program.

Excellent experiences from the first part of the program

Those who participated in the program in the spring said that they received new self-confidence and courage. Especially important for them was to receive positive feedback, gain feelings of success and to be part of the work community. Working within a work community helped the young people meet new people and act in new situations. As their favorite job assignments, the young participants listed, among other things, preparing PowerPoint presentations, taking photos, filing documents and scanning.

"The practice opportunity in the spring provided many young people with important lessons for the future. The first experiences at work are very important. They will be used to build an image of one's own skills, interests and the future working life. Successful experiences strengthen the young people's self-esteem, provide courage and spur them to try things out. Valmet has worked hard to provide an opportunity for young people to get successful experiences and strengthen their working life skills in an encouraging environment. We are happy to participate in cooperation where the young people's path toward the working life is supported with consideration of their starting point," says Tuula Colliander, Executive Director of the Children and Youth Foundation.

"Academic Work supports and helps young people specifically at the beginning of their path in working life, so this cooperation program was fully in line with our values. In addition, meeting young people in various situations in life also provides a learning opportunity to our own personnel, and we are eagerly anticipating this stage of the project. More than 20 people from Academic Work will participate in mentoring the young trainees in different locations in Finland," says Laura Korpilauri from Academic Work.

Read more about Valmet's 220 years of industrial history: www.valmet.com/220years

VALMET

Corporate Communications

For more information, please contact:

Anu Salonsaari-Posti, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Valmet, tel. +358 50 453 4262, anu.salonsaari-posti@valmet.com  

Tuula Colliander, Executive Director, The Children and Youth Foundation, tel. +358 40 575 3626, tuula.colliander@nuori.fi

Laura Korpilauri, Head of Operations, Academic Work, tel. +358 50 447 9604, laura.korpilauri@academicwork.fi

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2016 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.