Kristina Sundin Jonsson, city manager of Skellefteå.
A month has passed since Northvolt announced layoffs, and most affected employees have now received their termination notices. For non-EU workers, the complex immigration rules pose significant challenges to remaining in the region.
– The application process can take several months. My last job application took almost five months. But we only have three months to find a new job, or we have to leave Sweden, one affected individual told Norran.
Kristina Sundin Jonsson, Skellefteå city manager and member of the task force addressing the redundancies consequences, is urging the government office to reconsider the three-month rule. However, she has yet to receive any information on potential temporary regulatory adjustments.
– We've highlighted the main challenges: the three-month rule and the salary requirement. Some people might be close to securing a job, but the recruitment process takes time. They could potentially fill temporary roles in healthcare, but the salary threshold is a major obstacle.
Current work permit regulations mandate a minimum monthly salary of 28,480 kronor. Many municipal roles, especially in healthcare and social care, fall below this threshold. The task force is advocating for a temporary relaxation of this requirement to allow individuals to accept lower-paying jobs.
What kind of response have you received?
– We haven’t heard anything yet, but we will keep raising this issue. Until we get a response, we’re working with what we can do, such as meet and match, says Kristina Sundin Jonsson.
The meet and match job fair was held for the first time last Friday and attracted more than a thousand people. But several people Norran spoke to felt that Swedish language requirements were also an obstacle to their hope of finding a new employer.
– All the recruiters wanted fluent Swedish. Even the five municipalities that participated required Swedish, Andrew Obosi recently told Norran.
Meet and Match, October 2024.
Hanna Dermes Gibson, a business development officer for Umeå municipality, attended the job fair as a representative of the Umeå region and confirmed Andrew Obosi’s impression.
– I visited several companies to identify those that don’t require fluent Swedish, and I found four or five. I didn’t speak with the larger companies that I know use English as their working language, but it still feels like many haven’t considered the language requirement. It’s a convenient, easy excuse and many just assume that’s just how it has to be, she says.
Edward Lantz, CEO of TeamNorr IT-Partner, attended the meet and match event as a possible recruiter. He believes that many companies may take the easy route and choose Swedish-speaking candidates. However, he believes there are challenges posed by candidates with a lack of Swedish
– We work as an IT department for other companies, and our role is to assist clients. It’s not feasible to provide support in Urdu or English. Even explaining technical issues in Swedish can be challenging for our customers, let alone in English, he explained.
Jonny Eliasson, site manager at Metso in Skellefteå, attended the fair to recruit engineers. The company received several promising applications that are currently under review.
Do you require Swedish language skills?
– No, no, no. We work with international companies, and for us, English is more natural than Swedish. It’s much more about competence and the right profile.
Olivia Schönfeldt, HR specialist at Björkdalsgruvan, explains that some Swedish is required for certain positions, but they offer language courses for foreign-born employees. She attended the job fair to look for electricians, but without success.
– But there were other skills that might be interesting for us in the future.
But many non-EU candidates don't have the luxury of time
– We noticed this particularly when speaking with process operators. While we don't have current vacancies, summer recruitment will begin soon. However, many candidates can't wait that long. It becomes challenging when we can't offer immediate opportunities.
Hanna Dermes Gibson from the Umeå region believes employers need to be much braver and think outside the box
– But not knowing Swedish is a temporary problem. Many of them already speak several languages; they can learn another. This isn’t a refugee crisis – does everyone understand that these are experienced, highly educated individuals? It’s unlikely that there will ever be so many highly skilled people, ready to be hired and willing to stay here in Västerbotten, all at once again.