Pilot project becomes important tool for northern Sweden's skills supply
Skellefteå will be part of a pilot project to strengthen the supply of skills in northern Sweden. The initiative comes from Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR), Sobona and the trade unions and a total of SEK 45 million is allocated from the Transition Fund. The pilot project will run from March 2025 to December 31, 2027.
- An initiative like this is extremely welcome, but it is also necessary to ensure that our welfare has the necessary skills. It is also exactly this type of initiative that we need and have requested and are very happy about as we need to ensure that skills remain here in northern Sweden, says Evelina Fahlesson (S), Vice Chairman of the Municipal Executive Board and Chairman of the Personnel Board.
The municipalities that are part of the pilot project and will receive funding from the Transition Fund are Skellefteå Municipality, Boden Municipality, Luleå Municipality and Piteå Municipality, as well as Region Västerbotten and Region Norrbotten. SEK 5 million will be allocated to companies owned by the municipalities and regions. The total amount is SEK 45 million.
The pilot project will require the Transition Fund to coordinate matching efforts in collaboration with the affected employers, the Public Employment Service and other transition organizations. This will include a mapping of the skills needs of the employers concerned, as well as the skills and interest in working in the sector of potential employees. The work will also include identifying the skills gap and establishing relevant measures and their costs.
- Northern Sweden still has a great need for skills and one of the areas where the need is greatest is precisely in welfare. Through this pilot project, we will hopefully have an even greater opportunity to work with the target groups that our activities are aimed at, which feels very gratifying, says Kristina Sundin Jonsson, Municipal Director.
Groups that may be relevant to the pilot project's efforts include
- Workers employed who need a comprehensive effort to be able to take a different job than the one they have today.
- Young people (under 24 years of age for whom the municipality is responsible) who do not enter or drop out of upper secondary school, who are hired into the business.
- Dismissed and unemployed people, partly due to redundancies within Northvolt.
- Accompanying spouses of those who have moved up to work at Northvolt, for example.
- Dismissed or unemployed people from other parts of the country who are hired into the business
- Recruitment from abroad.
The parties signing this agreement in principle are:
From the employer side: Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and Sobona - the employers' organization of municipal companies.
From the trade union side: The Swedish Association of Municipal Workers, OFR's union areas General Municipal Activities, Health Care, Doctors and Teachers and the organizations included in the union areas, as well as AkademikerAlliansen and the national organizations affiliated to AkademikerAlliansen.
About the Transition Fund:
The Transition Fund's mission is to facilitate transition in the welfare sector. This includes, for example, working preventively with early transition initiatives and skills development in municipalities and regions, as well as municipal companies that are members of Sobona. The Transition Fund also supports and helps employees, with skills development and career change both during and after employment. The work is based on the Skills and Transition Agreement, which covers around 1.3 million employees in the welfare sector.