A career spanning fifty years with the same employer is something of an exception. Hailing from Leppävirta in North Savo, Seppo Halonen has been working for Metsä Group since 1973 – and not in any old job but as a forest worker all these years. Halonen’s employment relationship began when Kauko Ahonen, a foreperson at Metsäliitto Cooperative, hired the fit 15-year-old.
“I’d completed primary school and started working in the forest with my father. I enjoyed the work and was eager to do it,” says Halonen.
His first felling site was in Reinikkala, on Soisalo island, on the way from Leppävirta to Kuopio. It was a thinning site that produced pulpwood. The daily yield was smaller than it would be in later decades, partly because of the equipment used back then.
“The saws were heavier and less powerful in relation to their weight. They also operated less reliably,” says Halonen.
When Halonen began his career, it was not uncommon for forest workers going on disability pension due to work-related injuries before they turned 50. However, Halonen has remained in good shape all his life and will retire this autumn just under the age of 66. What is his secret?
“If only I knew.”
Seeking an answer, he suggests sensible clothing and the improvements made to equipment over the decades.
“We used to have poor gear. When the first waterproof work clothes became available, I quickly took to them.”
In wet weather, Halonen sometimes changed into a dry set of outer clothing midway through the day, ignoring the older forest workers’ astonished stares. He believed it was important to keep dry, especially in the winter.
“I’ve also kept changing gloves to avoid wet hands.”
Work has also become less strenuous as felling has been replaced by clearing work. It is not as physically demanding.
Halonen does not plan to hang up his tools when he retires but will instead continue to manage his own forest. So, does he plan to spend his days in retirement wielding a clearing saw?
“That’s a possibility,” says Halonen, with a good-natured chuckle.
This text was published in Metsä Group’s Viesti 3/2023.
Text Ilkka Luukkonen
Photo Marko Paakkanen