Uroš Lorčar was even offered another job in the UK in January that he turned down because he loved his work at Northvolt and was urged to stay by his boss.
Uroš Lorčar, the dapper 44-year-old Slovenian sitting opposite me in the coffee shop, is agitated. When we started talking 20 minutes ago, he was calm and composed. But now he's definitely peeved.
– I just can’t work it out. My engineering team was amazing. They were the most innovative, hard-working people I’ve ever worked with. They streamlined processes, improved the machines, solved problems, worked long hours, everything. Just everything you could ask for. They even worked from laptops at home, to ensure everything was working as it should be on DS2.
Why then were they laid off?
– It makes absolutely no sense. Workers with high levels of knowledge being laid off and those with less knowledge being kept on. I’ve asked, we’ve all asked. But we received no answers. We have no idea what the criteria were for letting people go. I’m not even sure there were criteria.
During his time there, he was promoted from operator to technician. He was, by all accounts, a bit of a star. He even wrote an English-language instruction manual for one of the machines. Last year he worked 300 hours overtime, and this year he’d already clocked up 75 in less than three months.
Uroš Lorčar. "Production will suffer. There just aren’t enough knowledgeable staff left."
If the trustees were looking for staff to retain you’d think his name would be close to the top of the list.
He was even offered another job in the UK in January that he turned down because he loved his work at Northvolt and was urged to stay by his boss.
– I asked my manager about my future at Northvolt. He said, “We definitely want to keep you and your knowledge here. We know how hard you work, so stay.” So I did, and now I regret it.
During his time at Northvolt, Uroš was promoted from operator to technician.
He believes that the trustees will regret their choices, too.
– Production will suffer. There just aren’t enough knowledgeable staff left. They should be focusing 100% on the Scania batteries, but I don't think they'll be able to.
Beyond the reputational sting of redundancy, Uroš has also suffered financially. His most recent salary - due on March 25 - arrived nine days late.
– I thought I was going into the weekend with a big fat zero in my bank account.
Uroš Lorčar, Northvolt. "I thought I was going into the weekend with a big fat zero in my bank account."
Have Skellefteå companies been flexible? Your bank, your car finance provider, your property rental company - have they been understanding?
– My bank has been great, as has the car company, DMB, but the apartment rental companies have not been so good. Very, very inflexible. They don’t seem to really care. Many people I know say the same.
What’s next?
– I’m sending out CVs. I need to work. Don’t really care what kind of job - but I need to work.
Uroš Lorčar was shocked to be made redundant from Northvolt while less knowledgeable colleagues kept their jobs.