Morgonmötet March 2025.
Skellefteå Morgon Mötet, or "Skellefteå Morning Meeting," is a recurring business networking event held in Skellefteå once a month. It's designed to bring together local entrepreneurs, business leaders, and other professionals for networking, information sharing, and inspiration.
The topic of last week’s English-language event was “Recruiting International Talent”, and both local companies and international employees shared their experiences and perspectives on the subject. Obviously, given the news, two days earlier, of Northvolt's bankruptcy, the event took on extra gravity.
Mattias Lindberg, line manager at Tietoevry Create. Morgonmötet March 2025.
There were stories from employers and employees about the positive impact of recruiting English-speaking professionals.
Anja Palm, Näringslivschef, Skellefteå kommun. Morgonmötet March 2025.
The employer representatives from companies, such as Mattias Lindberg from Tietoevry and Sofia Malveira, (who's originally from Portugal) from AFRY, said that when Skellefteå workplaces embrace diversity in language, experience, and background, they create a more dynamic and evolving work environment. This strengthens team cohesion, improves the workplace atmosphere, and contributes to a more innovative and attractive workplace.
Sofia Malveira, senior project manager at Afry. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Skellefteå's unit manager of the labour market, Mona Stenberg, also spoke about the municipality's efforts to recruit international talent.
Mona Stenberg, Head of Labor Market Unit at Skellefteå Municipality. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Norran English editor, Paul Connolly, offered his perspective on the advantages of hiring international talent. He shared his experience of being the first English speaker to work for Norran newspaper, and encouraged other local companies to focus on newcomers’ skills, experience, and drive rather than on language.
Paul Connolly, editor Norran English. Morgonmötet March 2025.
– Ex-Northvolters are mostly incredibly bright people, with degrees, PhDs and masters, who already usually speak at least two languages. They are natural linguists, and quick learners. Learning Swedish won't take them long, he said, recommending Skellefteå employers provide language training "on-the-job" as part of the onboarding process.
Connolly was impressed with the first English-only Morgonmötet.
– The mostly Swedish audience was encouraged to speak only English, and, as usual, almost all of them were totally fluent. They were also very positive about employing English speakers. It was a very impressive event, and it gave me hope for the future.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Anja Palm, Näringslivschef, Skellefteå kommun. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Anna-Klara Granstrand. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Mona Stenberg, Head of Labor Market Unit at Skellefteå municipality. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Desirée Ödén, Näringslivsutvecklare, Skellefteå Kommun. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Morgonmötet March 2025.
Sofia Malveira, Mattias Lindberg and Paul Connolly. Morgonmötet March 2025.
Chetan Sharma with his wife Priyanka who together run the shop Sharma Shoppers Stop, talking to left, Nicklas Warg and right, Mona Stenberg. Morgonmötet March 2025.