Incredible growth: Autumn hunt for 50 employees

Published: 12.11.05

Haugesunds Avis (Arne Frøkedal)

Here is one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. Now Omega is looking for at least 50 new employees.

READY FOR INFLUX: Big recruitment ensures the Omega employees Torleif Heggebø (left), Lars Dalen, Lauren McPherson, Anne Fredriksen and Eiolf Berge a busy time before Christmas.

Westcon, Ølen Betong Gruppen and Jakob Hatteland are competing these days for the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for growing companies. However, none of them can compete with their neighboring company when it comes to job growth.

– If we get applications from 50 qualified people, they are sure to get jobs here, says department manager Torleif Heggebø at Omega.

Seven new people every month

The young company by the seaside in Ølensvåg is experiencing an incredible development. So far this year seven new employees are hired every month on average. These days Omega takes a broad approach to strengthen their staff further. In May 2002 they hired number 100. By the beginning of last year they had grown to 125, and by the end of last year they had 189 people on the payroll.

– Today we are 259 employees, and we are hoping to turn 300, Heggebø tells us. In Ølensvåg the phones are buzzing these days after Omega advertised 50 new positions in local and regional newspapers. Anne Fredriksen sits in one of the meeting rooms. She is in charge of a group responsible for completing a training course for the new-comers. The training will have to take place online, as it is practically impossible to fit all the new arrivals in the headquarters.

Parameter

Omega is a company servicing the oil- gas- and supplier industry. The Ølensvåg entrepreneurs have developed their own computer-based solutions for doing things in a smarter way, and they offer their services by sending consultants around to customers around the world.

– You might say that Omega is a parameter as to how the oil business is doing. The demand for our services show both that we have a good product and that there is hectic activity in the field, says Heggebø, one out of five department managers. The growth also affects the turnover severely. Last year the company's running income increased by 34 per cent. When Haugesunds Avis mentioned the company in June this year, operations manager Petter Aalvik was very wrong when he stipulated the turnover this year to 200 million NOK.

– The company will probably end up at around 240 million NOK in 2005, administration manager Lars Dalen tells us today.

Browsing the country

Omega has already been through and swept the entire regional job market, and they do not count on recruiting too many people from Haugaland this time around. That is why the company is now approaching larger parts of the country and abroad. Their international initiatives also demand employees who speak many different languages. They have more than ten different nationalities employed, and there is more to come.

– Our best marketing strategy is satisfied customers and good ambassadors abroad. We are looking for highly qualified personnel to begin with. However, young candidates who are eager to learn and not afraid to travel abroad for work could also become interesting to us, Torleif Heggebø concludes.