“Our company operates in an industry standing out particularly through dynamism, so that we’re daily adjusting resources and needs,” Corina Licea, HR Manager Coca-Cola HBC Romania and Moldova, told ZF.
She says that technical positions such as those of engineers or technicians are harder to fill. Corina Licea is not the only manager pointing out to the lack of skilled candidates for technical positions, as several industries are coping with the same problem.
Licea also says personnel for positions requiring “rare skills” is also harder to find.
“It is hard to find such candidates either because the market they operate on is a niche one, or as this category of employees is more difficult to find on the market. Here, we can talk about positions such as logistic buyer, continuous improvement manager of planning specialists,” explained Licea.
Coca-Cola HBC Romania is one of the largest employers in the beverage industry, but in recent years the company has renounced almost half of its headcount. The number of people working at the bottler started to go down as soon as 2005, a period when the company closed down three plants.
In 2005, the company had over 3,000 employees. In late 2013, it had around 1,800 employees, 100 more than in the previous year, a level similar with that of 2010. Since it entered the Romanian market, the giant has been a major school for Romanian managers, as well as an exporter of young managers.
“In 2014 we launched, for the third year in a row, the Management Trainee program, planning to select and train a new generation of managers. In the wake of this program, 12 young people will be hired in five departments of the company starting September 2014,” concluded Licea.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)