We have over 400 professionals across North Karelia. We create experiences daily for 10,000 customers – human-to-human, with a big heart.
Welcome to explore our culture handbook. It tells who we are and what kind of world we are building through our work. Our culture lives and evolves continuously, and together we ensure we are heading in the right direction.
We operate in numerous teams and units across North Karelia. Together we form a working community where diverse work is done and at the heart of which is hospitality. This is how we describe our MaRa community:
Our vision is warm hospitality and genuine appreciation in every encounter – with customers and with each other.
Change does not happen in an instant, but work towards it is ongoing and is visible in our everyday lives.
Happy and cheerful people advance our endeavor:
We offer a safe and diverse work environment where everyone can be themselves and embrace their own way of working, pushing beyond their comfort zone. You'll be supported by professional teams and supervisors. This industry thrives on spontaneous moments, and we’ll be there to back you up when you dive in.
At PKO, you can build a career path without changing employers!
With us, you can achieve:
changing units
expanding or changing your job description
flexibility according to your life situation
We invest long-term in your well-being, employee benefits, and effective teamwork.
Good news: Attitude is what counts. With us, you can learn on the job, and what's most important is enthusiasm for meeting people.
We offer a strong foundation for working life skills – customer service skills and a desire to learn will take you far here.
We warmly welcome seasoned professionals in the field: experienced professionals are valued and play an important role as role models and guides.
Your role can be tailored to your wishes and life situation. With us, you can continue to advance your career path – or if you want a more settled job, that is also possible.
Are you interested in changing the rhythm of your life and moving to North Karelia? We will be happy to welcome you! Our units are located right in the heart of Joensuu, but also, for example, in the national landscapes of Koli and in Nurmes by the shore of Lake Pielinen. According to those who have moved here, our living environment offers, despite the hustle of work, for example, proximity to nature, as well as a smoother and easier everyday life.
We consider it important that our employees can settle in and become part of the community – so we help, if necessary, with introducing the areas, with accommodation or finding a home, and with the whole family settling in.
Dear students and pensioners, working with us is an interesting opportunity!
Here are some reasons why:
– with the right number of working hours for you
such as through shared events
North Karelia Cooperative is the largest private employer in our region – just as the S Group is the largest in the country. Find out more about our shared benefits here.
Our units are divided into small teams, even though we are the largest employer in North Karelia. Therefore, our employees do not have to be cogs in a large machine, but get to be part of small and dynamic teams with clear goals.
This is an example of a career path we can provide
Our operations are based on the ethical and operational principles of cooperative activities. As an employer, we take good care of our personnel. The vision of our travel and hospitality community is providing a culture of appreciation – it’s about small actions and open and respectful encounters with each other.
Common good
Our extensive services have a positive impact on people’s lives directly and indirectly, whether that’s for our employees, customers, partners or other parties whose activities we support.
Competitiveness
Financial success guarantees that we can develop our work and at the same time our entire province in a bold, inclusive and sustainable way. The tourism and catering industry is the top of our country here in the east!
Value-based consumption is becoming increasingly important. As a consumer cooperative and a large operator, we have an important role and responsibility in helping our customers and employees make sustainable choices. We listen to our customers’ wishes and seek and develop new ways in which to take them into account in all our units.
Our responsible actions include:
In our community, everyone does meaningful work. This is important to us. Meaningfulness lays the foundation for the sense of purpose and productivity of our work, as well as engaging our employees and attracting newcomers to our industry.
We regularly conduct workplace surveys for all our staff. The aim of these surveys is to provide the best possible basis for the continuous development of our operations and workplace. The results help us to identify strengths, recognise areas for improvement, and build even better everyday practices.
Through the surveys, we can monitor the well-being of our community, which leadership practices are effective, and where we can develop together. They are an important tool for maintaining a culture of openness, appreciation, and continuous improvement.
We talk a lot about putting ourselves out there – but what does it really mean?
In reality, taking the plunge looks different for everyone. For some, it might be a small, warm gesture towards a customer, such as a surprise for a wedding couple. For others, it might be a bold career step, such as moving into a restaurant manager role at a new unit.
Throwing yourself into things requires courage.
It is said that 20 seconds of courage at a time is enough. Therefore, the most important thing is to choose those moments where you dare to try, grow, and step forward – and where you have the right people supporting you.
So dive in – we’ll catch you!
Feel free to submit your application! For us, diversity is a strength, and we welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds. With us, you can work in various sectors, and we can flexibly adapt your working hours to your life situation.Explore the open job vacancies at North Karelian Cooperative—and remember, you can also submit an open application at the end of the list if you wish.
Check out the open positions and submit an open application here.