Case Cloudshift21: Nokia’s Spin-off expands talent pool and recruits globally

Cloudshift21, Nokia’s spin-off focused on cloud solutions, is revolutionizing the cloud service market by offering secure and full-service solutions that grow with businesses. Instead of building architecture piece by piece, Cloudshift21 provides a seamless solution that eliminates the risk of human errors or incompatible pieces. As an agile startup, Cloudshift21 is dedicated to finding top talent from around the world and changing the way organizations approach cloud services. Their mission is to provide organizations with unlimited development opportunities and a reliable architecture that works seamlessly in the background.

Challenge	Solution
Cloudshift21’s platform and product are one-of-a-kind, making it challenging to find top talent in Finland within a short timeframe, particularly those who fit the startup environment. The platform’s uniqueness also calls for a rare expert profile, requiring a person to possess both generalist and deep expertise.	Initially, a specialist was recruited to the team, working as a Try & Hire with a hybrid model from India. Currently, the team is searching for another expert internationally who will start remotely and relocate to Finland after the summer.

A growth partner that has extensive experience in utilizing diverse resourcing and recruitment methods

ICT DIRECT and Cloudshift21 aim to establish a long-term partnership to overcome the recruitment challenges in the ICT sector. The first recruitment has already been accomplished through the Try & Hire service, with an expert working remotely from India and employed by ICT DIRECT. After a year, Cloudshift21 has the option to hire the expert on its own payroll. Additionally, we are actively seeking a highly skilled “unicorn” for the position in Finland.

Startups are tested by the pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine

Due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, people have become more cautious and prioritize a sense of security when selecting a workplace.

“Two searches so far. We are now looking for talent to work in Finland and previously recruited one to India. The talent in India was hired with the Try & Hire service. Here in Finland, it is significantly more difficult to find top talent. The talent shortage of 10,000 is definitely having an impact, and the ongoing world situation has presented its own set of challenges. It clearly reflects in the recruitment side in Finland as well. People tend to prefer big companies over startups”, explains Cloudshift21 CEO Ilkka Wijkberg.

Recruiting is expensive and there is no room for failure

Recruiting a new employee is usually a costly process and there’s no guarantee of success. When recruiting from abroad, the costs and risks increase compared to hiring locally in Finland. However, it does bring in more candidates. To minimize risks and facilitate speedy employment, the Try & Hire service is useful.

“Try & Hire has been successful. We have experience working remotely with Indian employees and the feedback from the talent we hired has been very positive. The expert has been productive and a quick learner. They have now reached a point where they want more challenging work,” says Cloudshift CTO Göran Nummelin.

Future resourcing plans are clear

Currently, Cloudshift’s main objective is to find experts in Finland. However, the recruitment process has been challenging and defining the required skill set has been difficult, which has slowed down the process. To overcome this hurdle, ICT DIRECT has been supportive in updating and developing the search profile to include relevant factors.

“Cloudshift21’s platform is unique, and there is nothing similar on the market. We are searching for a “super coder” or “unicorn” – the position requires deep knowledge, but also a broad skillset. Usually, we look for either in-depth experts or generalists, and combining the two into one is challenging,” describes Wijkberg.

Cloudshift21 needs to fill other roles in the future. The quicker the development of their platform, the more time they will have to fill these roles. Once the main development force is freed up, they can also focus on developing the entire team internally.

“ICT DIRECT has, so to speak, chased us when there was a rush, and the communication has worked. ICT DIRECT’s know-how and processes are in place, but the skills shortage in Finland is so great that hiring is a challenge,” says Nummelin, to which Wijkberg continues:

“When you look at the profiles of top talent on LinkedIn, they tell that they have enough work for the next few years and ask not to contact them.”