Food Union EMPLOYS 200 SCHOOL CHILDREN THIS SUMMER

This summer season, Latvia’s leading dairy company Food Union is employing around 200 school children. They are involved in ice cream production and selling jobs at the company’s production facilities JSC Rīgas piena kombināts (RPK) and JSC Valmieras piens, making Food Union one of the largest employers of school children in the country again this season.

In the summer, there are two kinds of jobs available to school children at the company. Sales assistants have to supervise the stores they work at, so Food Union products are neatly arranged on the shelves, and let their managers know if they notice any shortages. On the other hand, those working at the ice cream production facilities are involved in ice cream packaging.

“Food Union participates in the State Employment Agency’s project offering school children to work in paid jobs during the summer and employs a number of young people as part of the project, as we see that, based on their experience of work at the company, these school children could choose to work in professions that may be in demand at our company. Of course, it also means that we have to invest additional time and train them, as well as keep an eye on them at all times, but overall it does pay off,” says Food Union Personnel Department Head Evita Osīte.

Osīte goes on to say: “Judging from our experience, it is great if children have work for at least one month during the summer holiday – first of all, this is excellent opportunity to learn something new and earn some pocket money. Second, it makes things easier for parents as they don’t have to think what their children could do all summer. At the end of their monthly employment, many school children say that it was not easy and they feel tired, but there are also those who say that they could keep on working for another month. The majority of school children are responsible and try to do their job as best they can, but we also had several cases when a student chose to quit, saying that the job was too hard or that he or she was no longer interested.”