Lessons from Skellefteå important for Sweden's competitiveness

To meet the growing need for skilled labor, the Swedish Institute is launching the Team Sweden Talent Attraction network. The aim is to strengthen Sweden's position as a career destination for international talent and increase our global competitiveness. Skellefteå municipality takes a place in the expert group that will contribute with strategic guidance.

We want to share our experiences from the extreme population growth and the situation when many of these people had to leave their jobs - both the good examples and the situations where we could have done differently," says Helena Renström, Project Manager, Skellefteå Municipality.

Over 70% of Swedish companies report that it is difficult to recruit the top talent needed to stay ahead. At the same time, global competition for qualified skills is intensifying.

Through a broad collaboration between public and private actors, Team Sweden Talent Attraction will help Sweden become an obvious choice for international talent. Several initiatives will be implemented within the initiative, one of which is the establishment of an advisory board, an advisory body for SI's work with talent attraction.

Skellefteå has worked successfully to attract skills for many years, but we have also experienced a turbulent year after the Northvolt bankruptcy. Now, fortunately, foreign skills are again needed in Skellefteå. We will see similar rapid changes and social transformation processes in other places. We can learn from each other," Helena Renström continues.

The Advisory Board shall:

• act as an advisory body, providing expertise and strategic guidance
• propose priorities and adjustments in the Agency's work on talent attraction
• promote coordination between public and private initiatives aimed at strengthening Sweden as an attractive career destination.

Facts:

The advisory board consists of representatives from: AstraZeneca, Business Sweden, Hitachi Energy Sweden, Region Skåne, Linköping Science Park (Switch to Sweden), Move to Gothenburg, Region Stockholm, Skellefteå Municipality, SSAB, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Tech Sweden, Teknikföretagen and Tillväxtverket.

The Government has commissioned SI, Business Sweden and nine other agencies to work together to strengthen Sweden's ability to attract and retain international excellence. Team Sweden Talent Attraction is a support in this work.

https://si.se/talangattraktion/ External link.

For more information, please contact:

Agnetha Boström, Press Officer, Skellefteå Municipality,
agnetha.bostrom@skelleftea.se,
076 127 94 32

Emelie Sjölund, Press Officer, Skellefteå Municipality,
emilie.sjolund@skelleftea.se,
073 020 70 64

Sara Djupsund, Talent Attraction and Export Promotion Unit, Swedish Institute,
sara.djupsund@si.se,
08 453 79 43