My Reasons: Interesting work, a region in rapid development and growth and living closer to my family

Building sustainable communities

The new CEO of Haugaland Kraft has an impressive resumé. Leading 550 employees in a company central in the energy transition, he is steering towards the future.

His main goal is to connect the region to the area, supplying more energy to the big transition and electrification, such as the battery industry, offshore wind, and solar energy.

– We are very much in need of electricity to build the new industries in the renewable sector. It is an honor to participate in building sustainable communities for the future. There was something about it that touched my heart. It feels important, Pablo says.

Pablo is born and raised in Haugesund but has been working all over the world. His parents came to Norway from Chile in 1969.

– My father is a sailor and went to Norway to work offshore. Some years later, the whole family moved. I´m so impressed that they did that. It was not very normal at the time. I´ve always felt both Chilean and Norwegian.

To explore his background, Pablo searched for jobs in Norwegian companies where he could work in Chile.

– I went for a year and a half. It was so nice. I could spend time with my family there, joining family dinners, birthdays and really live the culture. I wanted to stay, but Norway was still home.

The experience working abroad has taught him a lot about different working cultures.

– In Norway, people take initiative, creating tasks for themselves. In Chile, they are more used to being told what to do. But I noticed that the Chileans liked our Norwegian way of working. I loved their warm, welcoming culture. In Chile, everybody says hi, they help each other out and they are always social and spending time together.

As a CEO, Pablo finds himself in need of new competences.

– Solar energy is one of the growing fields at Haugaland Kraft, and we need more workers. I think the biggest challenge for us here in Norway now, is that we must compete to get the best people.