Wärtsilä is preparing to set up a field services office in Guyana and has begun recruitment for a local team.
This new venture is outside of the Finnish company’s maintenance and operation contract with Guyana Power and Light for the new Garden of Eden power plant.
A recruitment drive hosted at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown on Thursday exposed prospective candidates to a future with the company and the benefits on offer.
The company sought to recruit persons for the positions of Shift Supervisor, Superintendent (with experience in managing 4-stroke reciprocating engine operations & maintenance), Plant Technician, and service engineers. Approximately 120 persons attended the recruitment drive.
Agreement Manager at Wärtsilä, Duane Chase explained that with an understanding of the Guyanese skillset and talent and the potential for growth in the energy sector, the company felt it was best to start with a recruitment drive here.
Chase noted that through this opportunity, the company is looking to transfer knowledge in the areas of new technology.
He related that over the years, while working in Guyana, Wärtsilä has managed to train over 100 persons, some of whom have been able to move on and work in their international markets.
Resource Coordinator and Field Service Manager Julian Andres explained that the opportunities at the recruitment drive offer positions from “entry level university graduates who want to start their career… to superintendent level, which is one of our highest level positions within field service structure.”
With new ventures in Suriname, Barbados and the Western Antilles islands, Andres posited that having a field service team based in Guyana is strategic.
“We know the talent is here. And it’s also you know, very strategic, you know, for the rest of the area to have people here to be able to demobilize to Suriname or to some of the other islands in the western Antilles it strategic place that has the talent,” he said.
Chase disclosed that the work force at their Garden of Eden operations is 100 per cent Guyanese. The Finnish company has been working with the local power utility company for over two decades.
When asked how many persons they were looking to recruit, Andres said that there was no definite number but pointed out that they are looking for “solid persons” who can be a part of their new field service team.
