Three years ago, Angelica Gheorghe (36) made a slightly unusual choice. She moved from Valencia to Stavanger – to drive a bus. – In the beginning, it can be a bit complicated, but if you like what you do, it will go just fine. I love driving the bus, she says. Angelica Gheorghe is a bus driver. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news In addition, the weather was, oddly enough, decisive for her choice. – I like snow. I know that there is not much snow here in Stavanger, but I am very happy in cold weather, says Gheorghe. Recruitment of bus drivers At the same time as there is a great shortage of bus drivers in Norway, there are many drivers who are out of work in Spain. Now several of them have chosen to move north. For almost five years, Nav and Connect Bus have recruited almost 70 Spanish bus drivers for permanent jobs in Rogaland. – We need drivers, and we are applying in all channels we can. We work with national recruitment, towards upper secondary education, apprentices. Foreign recruitment is a supplement to everything else we do, says Jon Nordmark, who is operations manager for Connect Bus. There is a need for around 1,000 new bus drivers annually in Norway, according to the organisation. Jofri Lunde is head of business policy at NHO Transport. Photo: Moment Studio / Moment Studio – The bus companies look for drivers who are reliable, have good driving skills and a service attitude when they hire new bus drivers, says Jofri Lunde, business policy manager at NHO Transport. While there is a driver crisis here at home, the situation is completely different in parts of Europe. Synnøve Schei is head of marketing at Nav Rogaland. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news – In Spain there was a surplus, and there are especially young people who are without work, so this is an extra good project, says Synnøve Schei, head of market at Nav Rogaland. Now they plan to expand the unique project and recruit from other countries that have many vacant drivers. – We have had a shortage of bus drivers for a long time and we know that this will persist in the future as well. Poland is one of the countries we are looking at, but nothing has been decided yet. We are in the exploration phase, she says. There is a need for around 1,000 new bus drivers annually in Norway, according to NHO Transport. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news After 30 days of Norwegian courses and a subsequent month of training, the drivers are up and running. Nordmark says that they receive support for parts of the project via EU funds, but that the bus companies themselves bear the biggest expense. Jon Nordmark is operations manager for Connect Bus. Photo: Thomas Ysrøm / news – There are many resourceful people who are out of work today, whom we can help to get into working life. So it’s a win-win situation. Because we need drivers, and people need jobs, says Nordmark. Multicultural workplace He talks about a diversity of cultures in the bus company, and believes that it gives life to the company that other companies do not have. The workplace at Forus has a large international environment. Almost 30 different nationalities work here. Many of the new drivers gather in the canteen. – Driving a bus in Spain is quite similar to driving a bus in Norway, says Carlos Palma from Spain. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news Carlos Palma has driven a bus for almost 20 years. Now he has his first working week as a driver in Norway. – I learned Norwegian in Spain, on a Norwegian course for two months online, says Plama in fluent Norwegian. Rizan Ubdo from Syria says that they learn from each other. – Every day we learn a little more. There are different cultures here, so I can learn a bit more about cultures, languages and so on, he says. Rizan Ubdo from Syria and thrives as a bus driver. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news
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Have hired 70 from Spain – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
