They were short of workers in Slovakia. We selected an entire construction team for them in Uzbekistan.

Twenty workers for façade work and tiling. That was the recruitment target for a Slovak construction company whose order book was growing, but which lacked experienced people to deliver the work. As a recruitment agency, we began our search in Slovakia. Following a joint selection process in Uzbekistan, the client has now selected its entire required team, with a further 12 candidates in reserve.

Our client specialises in renovating apartment blocks and modernising buildings. As its operations expanded, it needed to strengthen its construction teams. However, it had struggled for some time to find enough workers with the required experience in the domestic market.

Our recruitment efforts also initially focused on experienced construction workers in Slovakia. By agreement with the client, we extended the search to applicants without experience whom the company was willing to train. Even this option did not meet its needs. Given the planned workload, the client needed a team with practical skills it could build on.

“The client was willing to hire people it could train. Given its plans, however, we needed to secure enough experienced workers. We therefore agreed to organise a selection process abroad, where the client could assess their skills in person,” explains Marek Skička, Delivery Director at Synergie.

Why we chose Uzbekistan

One specific detail about the company’s day-to-day operations helped shape the choice of country: several of its employees already communicate in Russian. Recruiting in Uzbekistan therefore allowed us to look for workers who could communicate with them. A shared language is a practical advantage when assigning tasks and explaining working methods.

Through this project, we added Uzbekistan to the countries from which we recruit workers for our clients. We organised the selection process with an international partner, who ran the local recruitment campaign and worked with us to arrange the practical assessments.

“For this project, we also considered the language spoken within the existing teams. Russian was one of the reasons we chose Uzbekistan. At the same time, we needed to organise the selection process so that the client could assess the applicants’ trade skills on site,” explains Yelyzaveta Halina, HR Consultant at Synergie.

The client saw the candidates at work

The job offer attracted 1,500 applicants. Following pre-screening, 115 candidates were invited, and 79 attended the in-person selection process.

Together with our international partner, we arranged premises and the technical facilities needed for practical assessments simulating construction work. The company’s representatives could watch the applicants at work and assess their skills against their own requirements.

SYNERGIE and its partner handled the pre-screening, organisation and logistics. This allowed the client to spend its time abroad conducting interviews, assessing trade skills and deciding whom to select for its teams.

The result: 20 selected workers and a reserve for future projects

During a single selection process, the client selected all 20 workers it needed. A further 12 candidates were retained in reserve should the team need to expand.

“Thanks to the strong support and our cooperation with SYNERGIE, we were able to select candidates in numbers and at a level of quality we had not been able to achieve in Slovakia in recent years,” says a representative of the construction company.

The selected workers are scheduled to arrive in two groups of ten, in January and March 2027. This allows the client to coordinate preparations for their arrival with its planned construction work.

Are you also looking for workers you have been unable to find in Slovakia? Get in touch. We will discuss the skills you need, communication within your teams and your deadlines, and recommend a suitable recruitment approach.

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