The largest infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States – Rail Baltica – has caught the eye of Lithuanian professionals from all around the world. According to the recruitment consultant Vilija Vitkė, highly qualified professionals working abroad are now considering returning to Lithuania to apply their expertise in developing a project of historical importance.
Recruitment companies always look for qualified professionals not only in Lithuania but abroad. “We often engage Lithuanians in the United Kingdom where a well-established railway industry exists – its infrastructure is constantly being updated and modernized using the latest technologies and management models. We’ve reached out to specialists that Lithuania can really be proud of – the key is getting them back here” says the head of People&More Vilija Vitkė. It was instantly clear to her that the task is to assemble an Olympics-worthy team of infrastructure professionals.
People&More along with its partners in Latvia and Estonia is providing recruitment services for the joint Baltic venture RB Rail AS.
“Detailed information, clear requirements, and questionnaires for each position made it clear that we need to recruit a very high-quality team. This process helped me improve as a professional” says V. Vitkė. According to her, RB Rail was very well prepared, had clear priorities, goals, and a vision of who should be carrying out the multibillion international infrastructure project. Rail Baltica is valued at 5.8 billion euros and will improve mobility, business opportunities, tourism, and trade.
It was clear from the outset that it will be very hard to find suitable candidates in Lithuania only. “The requirements for experience – familiarity with large-scale, multibillion projects and infrastructure – raised the bar very high. How many projects like this did we have in Lithuania? Naturally, we’ve turned to Lithuanians abroad – we know that Lithuania doesn’t end at the border”, says V. Vitkė.
Many Lithuanian specialists living abroad were interested in the project. Some of them said they were interested to see how life is back home after 10 or 15 years – the job offer really made them think about coming back.
Almost all the candidates said that the new line from Tallinn via Riga and Kaunas to the Polish border will make the region greener and will help reduce greenhouse emissions. Because all the Baltic states are committed to this project, the career prospects seemed stable and long term.
“Every good specialist wants to constantly improve and Rail Baltica offers just that – sharing knowledge, making joint decisions, working in a very high-quality environment” – said the recruitment professional. Candidates noted that RB Rail AS uses the latest technologies, platforms, and solutions – just like the top companies in the UK and Europe.
The head of People&More was very happy that she was able to suggest candidates for every vacancy under her responsibility. V. Vitkė admits that handling this extraordinary assignment helped her improve and acquire new skills – very rarely do you get to work on a project of this scale. She is also certain the team of highly qualified professionals she helped to assemble will prove their worth completing one phase after the other and bringing up the whole professional community with them.