Uzars as an employer

Me and the pavement.

I have had several big and important events in my life. And one of them is when I learned how to lay pavement. Thanks to the pavement, other major turning points followed. I don’t know what it would have been like if, when I got to Germany, I had taken my father’s advice that I should definitely go to school to learn something – I would have chosen a different direction. Photography, for example, which fascinated me at the time and I wanted to take photographs like Helmut Newton. But my German friend Heitz thought about it and said that photography would do no good. He was a wise and practical man and got me a job with the landscapers. There I learnt to lay pavement and when I came back, I started doing it in Latvia. I couldn’t pave in winter, so I thought I should build houses so that the pavers would have something to do in winter. Construction was difficult, so I thought we should buy land and build houses on it – develop real estate. But in the beginning, there was pavement. Later, one sphere of activity supported and strengthened another.

A lot has been done. Hundreds of apartments, hundreds of houses, many public buildings, lots of taxes for the state and welfare for many families.

Reading “The Library of Dreams”, which is about going back to a point in your life and choosing a different path, I realized that this was the only right path for me. The best possible version of my life.

I would recommend everyone to learn a trade. Knowing my pavers and many who have worked for me, I can say that they are all well fed and provide for their families. They have paved both their own backyard and the backyard of their loved ones.

Strong men, pavers!

I joined Uzars in 2002, when as a university student and I realised that I could no longer financially support my studies without a stable job. I opened the newspaper and saw a job advertisement for pavers at Uzars – at that moment, emotionally, I wanted a hard and proper work just like that, I applied – they accepted. In the first few days, I was not too happy and was wandering where have I gotten myself into!? It wasn’t easy, because we started at 7am (we had to be at the bus stop by 6am), and paving wasn’t easy at all. But after a few weeks I got into the rhythm and excitement of paving. Then one day my foreman came to me and told me that I would get a pay raise for good work. It was something – after just a few weeks on the job, I thought, while others work here for many months and years. And that was the motivation for further selfless work. Three months later, I was appointed as a foreman – it was SUCH an event for me! I guess that was the time when I really felt that paving was a work of the heart – it’s a manly and thorough job where you turn the mud into a solid foundation, and it’s much faster than, for example, the construction process, where everything is long and tedious, both for the client and for you. To be honest, at that time I didn’t care much how much I got for it, I became a bit of a paving patriot, so to speak. A year later, I was offered a new job as a project manager, which was again a new challenge for me. So here I am, more than 20 years later, and I still love it.
If we talk about Uzars as an employer, we have to say something about Jānis, and I can’t help but say that I don’t believe there is another employer in the world as good as him – he trusts his people, he doesn’t control, he is generous and humane. It feels like you’re running your own little business, but at the same time with a big, solid backing. I feel that my employer is not selfish and money-minded, I appreciate that he cares about us, the employees, and the development of the business – the income is invested in both the machinery and our well-being, not just spent on personal ambitions. Uzars is a stable company that takes care of its employees – salaries are always paid on time, regardless of whether the client has paid or not. But above all, there is an incomparable humanity and strength and resilience of a paver, no matter what winds of the world may shake us.

I joined the team in 2001, I was invited by a friend who was working at Uzars at the time, and his enthusiasm, excitement and, I won’t hide it, his apparent upward mobility convinced me, so I decided to give up my previous job and try my hand at paving. I had no experience in paving, but I had experience in construction and trade, but to be honest, at that time only those who worked for Jānis Uzars, who had brought from Germany an innovative paving technology not seen in Latvia at that time, could talk about experience in paving.
I was trained by a great foreman with whom I built both small and large projects. The following season, I was a foreman myself and had my own great team. After another year and a half, I was invited to join the project management team. I realized that this was an opportunity I had to take, so I accepted.
As an employer, Uzars is great, as my 20+ years of service here already shows. Uzars is not just about turnover and profit, but also about the growth of the company and the well-being of its employees. And yes, my inspiration to come to work is just like our saying – because I like to go from mud to a beautiful pavement. I am inspired by the results and the response of satisfied customers. Of course, every job has its own downsides, and sometimes I’m also less inspired to come to work – especially on days when there is a lot of bureaucratic paperwork to deal with. But I will say this: the greatest value of a good workplace is a good team and good technical support. And we have that here – 100%.
I would like my story to inspire those young people who are still looking for themselves, because if you have no experience, here at Uzars you have the opportunity to learn, to learn a profession and to get a stable salary, growth opportunities and definitely – have supportive management.
And finally, I want to tell you what makes a good paver! What is for sure – a good paver is never lazy. They are responsible, hard-working and resilient, because paving is a physical and responsible job. It builds character as well as physical fitness.

Eight years ago, I accidentally got into the Uzars paving family by helping a friend. I had no previous experience, but having grown up in the countryside and being no stranger to earthworks, I knew both how and why water should flow and why the soil should be compacted. I’ve always been a logical guy, so I learned the paving quickly, and I also had a good teacher who taught me everything from A to Z. Later, I tried my hand at my own paving business, and recently I’ve rejoined my team again – the Uzars team, but this time as a project manager. I really appreciate the opportunity to work at Uzars because it has a calm, relaxed atmosphere, a cohesive and friendly team and an honest and supportive employer. My colleagues have been working here for 15-20 years for a reason – there is security, stability and a great team.

What has paving taught me in my life? Definitely – to organize, to plan and to think three steps ahead – these skills are useful not only on the job but also in my personal life. For young guys who are still looking for a trade, I can recommend paving as a disciplining and mindset-developing activity, as well as a regular cardio workout in the fresh air.