KÉSZ Ipari Gyártó Ltd finished the construction of a new welding hall for Nagyfa-Alföld Ltd on April 13, 2016. In the factory ten prisoners work on welding metal railings and staircases while twelve prisoners study welding under the supervision of trainers from Szeged Vocational training Center.
At the opening ceremony, where Mihály Varga, CEO of KÉSZ Holding Inc was also present, Maj Gen József Lajtár, Deputy to the Director General for Finance and Information Technology, explained, "It is our job to lead prisoners back to the world of labor, so that they are able to support their families after release. Thousands of prisoners in Hungarian prisons learn valuable, marketable skills using local and EU funding. Many get qualified for the construction industry, a market suffering shortage of skilled workforce in Hungary. The Szeged model is an example to follow: it is the same company training the prisoners which then supervises prisoner labor and offers jobs to high achievers after release."
Balázs Uhrinyi, Managing Director of KÉSZ Industrial Manufacturing Ltd. said, "The KÉSZ Group has been working with the Hungarian Prison Administration for several years: we designed, constructed, and now operate Tiszalök National Prison, and have been a partner in prisoner employment. Our priorities at KÉSZ Group include training, job creation, and facilitating the social integration of former prisoners. There is a shortage of skilled metal workers in the Hungarian labor market, which we hope to ease a little through this program."
Col Tibor Katona, Deputy Managing Director of Nagyfa-Alföld Ltd, thanked all participants for their contribution to the construction of the factory hall and emphasized the significance of marketable skills in finding employment after release from prison. He added that his company was looking for external partners in prisoner employment. The new welding hall will employ prisoners from Szeged Strict and Medium Regime Prison Unit III in Nagyfa. By the time these persons leave prison, the newly trained welders will be able to take their place.
Nagyfa-Alföld Ltd and Szeged Strict and Medium Regime Prison conduct a joint selection procedure to find the most cooperative, fittest, best-behaved and most diligent prisoners among the applicants for these jobs.
