Abhay is a Mechanical engineer by profession. He studied at the Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College and he has a Mechanical Engineering degree. He is from Pune in the Western part of India. Abhay was an active sportsman during his university days and he was also active in cultural activities
Örebro, Sweden, October 31, 2008 (PRESSbooth.ORG) -- In 1992 he started working in Mumbai and was there for 2 years. He then moved to Pune to work as a Mechanical Engineering designer. He joined Tooltech, his current employer, in 2000. In 2003 Abhay moved to Sweden and started up a branch of Tooltech in Örebro.
The reason for moving to Sweden was part of Tooltech´s expansion strategy. The expansion was concentrated in Scandinavia . The Göteborg office controls operations in Denmark ,Norwayand Sweden. There are around 60 people working for the company in Scandinavia but there are also 100 working for this region in India. The company works with engineering services for the Automotive, Industrial Engineering, Marine and Oil and Gas Industries — it provides the resources, the competence, the knowledge and the expertise. The strategy is to focus on both India and Sweden. Tooltech has its head office in Pune ,India. Pune is a well-established centre for Swedish industry. Alfa Laval, SKF, Atlas Copco, Tetra Pak and Seco tools are all established there.
Before Abhay moved to Sweden, he knew that Sweden was a highly industrialised country. Moving to Sweden was an exciting career step for Abhay. He felt Sweden was one of the more anonymous countries in Europe and he was curious to find out more about it. He feels that Switzerland and Sweden are very often confused with each other when people outside Europe discuss them. Abhay did not have any preparation for moving to Sweden before he came here but he did get some information once he had arrived. He found by working with Swedish people that he began to understand their culture and working methods. He has not found much literature about Sweden. It is certainly different to Central Europe
In India there are a huge number of different cultures and languages and Indians are used to adapting to a variety of cultures. Abhay was aware that the Swedish culture would be completely different to what he was used to. The hardest thing to adapt to has been the weather. He knew it was going to be cold but he did not realise it was going to be so cold for such a long period of time. He has coped with the cold weather but also found the darkness very difficult. Abhay said that the darkness actually affected his state of mind more than the cold, but that he is now used to both.
Abhay´s family, his wife and 2 children, stayed here for 2 years. His daughter is 11 and his son is 4. The children were very happy at the International school. His wife is doing her PhD and she needed to be in India for some time.
Abhay is a traveller. I was amazed when he told me that he could travel to India twice a week. He does not suffer from jet lag. He can leave Sweden on Monday morning and work in India on Tuesday and then be back in Sweden in time for work on Wednesday. Abhay finds it a problem that Göteborg does not have good travel connections, not even to Norway.
I asked Abhay if he had suffered any culture shocks? He mentioned the consensus based decision-making process and how it tends to slow things down in Sweden. He realises that everyone has the right to have their say before an agreement is reached but this means that important decisions can take a long time. In business things should move fast. He does find that it is not easy to make Swedish friends as he does not speak Swedish and feels that this is essential to having an active social life in Sweden.
In his spare time Abhay watches movies, reads and he likes to go for walks. He loves the summer in Sweden and the freedom to be able to go where he wants. He likes watching sports such as ice hockey, horse shows and soccer.
The advantages of living in Sweden is becoming part of the system. Abhay exclaimed! He does not feel he is treated like a foreigner by the Swedish system. He is treated like any other Swede. He feels it has been quite simple to adapt to in Sweden. It is not as bureaucratic compared to India . Abhay finds it easy to understand the system even though he does not understand Swedish. He finds the government employees very helpful and keen to assist. He has a very positive feeling about Sweden in general. It is a great place to live and he feels that Swedes have a good attitude to work life balance.
What Abhay likes best about Sweden is the respect for people and also the quality of life here. You can earn more money in other countries but how you spend your days is important as well. Abhay does not know how long he will be in Sweden. He does not feel the need to plan ahead.
Abhay accepted an award, in 2007, for the best Foreign Owned Company in the Göteborg region. The company´s success can be attributed, to a large extent, to Abhay´s hard work.
Generally, Abhay is happy about working and living in Sweden. He knows it is not a permanent situation and he tries to make the best of it. Of course he misses his friends and family in India but he feels he has made a good career move and that he is learning new things along the way.
The reason for moving to Sweden was part of Tooltech´s expansion strategy. The expansion was concentrated in Scandinavia . The Göteborg office controls operations in Denmark ,Norwayand Sweden. There are around 60 people working for the company in Scandinavia but there are also 100 working for this region in India. The company works with engineering services for the Automotive, Industrial Engineering, Marine and Oil and Gas Industries — it provides the resources, the competence, the knowledge and the expertise. The strategy is to focus on both India and Sweden. Tooltech has its head office in Pune ,India. Pune is a well-established centre for Swedish industry. Alfa Laval, SKF, Atlas Copco, Tetra Pak and Seco tools are all established there.
Before Abhay moved to Sweden, he knew that Sweden was a highly industrialised country. Moving to Sweden was an exciting career step for Abhay. He felt Sweden was one of the more anonymous countries in Europe and he was curious to find out more about it. He feels that Switzerland and Sweden are very often confused with each other when people outside Europe discuss them. Abhay did not have any preparation for moving to Sweden before he came here but he did get some information once he had arrived. He found by working with Swedish people that he began to understand their culture and working methods. He has not found much literature about Sweden. It is certainly different to Central Europe
In India there are a huge number of different cultures and languages and Indians are used to adapting to a variety of cultures. Abhay was aware that the Swedish culture would be completely different to what he was used to. The hardest thing to adapt to has been the weather. He knew it was going to be cold but he did not realise it was going to be so cold for such a long period of time. He has coped with the cold weather but also found the darkness very difficult. Abhay said that the darkness actually affected his state of mind more than the cold, but that he is now used to both.
Abhay´s family, his wife and 2 children, stayed here for 2 years. His daughter is 11 and his son is 4. The children were very happy at the International school. His wife is doing her PhD and she needed to be in India for some time.
Abhay is a traveller. I was amazed when he told me that he could travel to India twice a week. He does not suffer from jet lag. He can leave Sweden on Monday morning and work in India on Tuesday and then be back in Sweden in time for work on Wednesday. Abhay finds it a problem that Göteborg does not have good travel connections, not even to Norway.
I asked Abhay if he had suffered any culture shocks? He mentioned the consensus based decision-making process and how it tends to slow things down in Sweden. He realises that everyone has the right to have their say before an agreement is reached but this means that important decisions can take a long time. In business things should move fast. He does find that it is not easy to make Swedish friends as he does not speak Swedish and feels that this is essential to having an active social life in Sweden.
In his spare time Abhay watches movies, reads and he likes to go for walks. He loves the summer in Sweden and the freedom to be able to go where he wants. He likes watching sports such as ice hockey, horse shows and soccer.
The advantages of living in Sweden is becoming part of the system. Abhay exclaimed! He does not feel he is treated like a foreigner by the Swedish system. He is treated like any other Swede. He feels it has been quite simple to adapt to in Sweden. It is not as bureaucratic compared to India . Abhay finds it easy to understand the system even though he does not understand Swedish. He finds the government employees very helpful and keen to assist. He has a very positive feeling about Sweden in general. It is a great place to live and he feels that Swedes have a good attitude to work life balance.
What Abhay likes best about Sweden is the respect for people and also the quality of life here. You can earn more money in other countries but how you spend your days is important as well. Abhay does not know how long he will be in Sweden. He does not feel the need to plan ahead.
Abhay accepted an award, in 2007, for the best Foreign Owned Company in the Göteborg region. The company´s success can be attributed, to a large extent, to Abhay´s hard work.
Generally, Abhay is happy about working and living in Sweden. He knows it is not a permanent situation and he tries to make the best of it. Of course he misses his friends and family in India but he feels he has made a good career move and that he is learning new things along the way.