“The supply of skills is absolutely central to our success”
Everyone knows that Norrbotten has a shortage of labor. But how bad is it? And what are we doing about it? Over two days, 160 people from companies, municipalities, the region, education actors and authorities gathered to take a joint approach to one of the county's biggest future issues: the supply of skills.
– We are in the midst of an industrial transition, a societal transformation and a societal transformation. To succeed, we need to find personnel for all these new jobs. Then the supply of skills is absolutely central, said Janus Brandin, regional development director in Region Norrbotten, when the conference The Skills of the Future began.
The recruitment needs are great, the inflow is not enough and the development needs are extensive. But in the midst of the challenge there is also something else: a desire to seek solutions together. That is perhaps the most important force of all, and it was tangible in the conference room at Stadshotellet in Luleå on March 17-18.
The starting point was the result of the mapping of skills needs carried out in the fall of 2025. Hundreds of employers have taken the time to share their needs.
According to the survey presented, 4,400 recruitments are needed in the public sector and over 4,000 in the business sector over the next two years. Altogether, this amounts to more than 8,400 positions – everything from assistant nurses and teachers to process operators and truck drivers.
While recruitment needs are growing, labor force participation is already very high, leaving few people to recruit from among those already living in the county. Unemployment in Norrbotten is 3,9 percent, and in municipalities such as Kiruna and Gällivare it is as low as 2,5 percent.
– There is simply not much room to get more existing residents into the workforce, explained Region Norrbotten's statistician Joe Lindehag.
“Retention is the new recruitment”
As if the need to hire new employees wasn't enough, there is also a great need to develop the skills of existing employees. Digitalization and AI are the biggest areas, followed by systematic work environment work and service to citizens.
– Nine out of ten municipalities say they need to develop the skills of existing staff, said Martin Bergvall, union manager at Akademi Norr.
Companies are in a similar situation. The survey shows that skills development is at least as important as recruiting new employees.
– Retention is the new recruitment. It is really important to ensure that we take care of the employees we have in our operations, said Magdalena Ahnqvist-Ohlsson, Lapland Learning Centers.
Magdalena Ahnqvist-Ohlsson deepened the picture of the needs of the business community.
Common challenges in the panels
In the panel discussions, where both representatives from the business community and from public organizations participated, it became clear that many are struggling with similar challenges.
Hanna Degerman, project manager for business and growth in Piteå Municipality, described how companies are also starting to feel the situation:
– Now it's not just healthcare that's crying out for staff, but now the business community is also starting to be quite worried, especially about getting hold of qualified expertise.
The Norrbotten region has a shortage of healthcare personnel, but not only that.
– We have 380 different professional roles within Region Norrbotten and a great need for competence in many of them. These are not just Region Norrbotten's challenges, but they are our common challenges. If we are to succeed moving forward, we must work together, said Henrik Söderström, HR Director at Region Norrbotten.
The public sector is struggling with a shortage of workers. The panel highlighted the need for cooperation on the issues. In the panel from left: Emma Engelmark, ESF, Lars Sandström, Norrbotten municipalities Henrik Söderberg, Region Norrbotten and Eva-Britt Grönberg from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Development.National level points to new opportunities
The national level pointed to opportunities that are not yet fully exploited.
When Katarina Söderberg, a qualified caseworker at the Swedish Employment Agency, and Rebecca Elowson, a representative of the Swedish Employment Agency in Luleå, took the stage, they emphasized that there is potential to recruit from other parts of the country.
– There are a lot of academically educated people who don't have a job in Skåne, said Söderberg.
Elowson also reported on a survey that shows that many job seekers in Sweden are willing to move if they get a job.
– 26 percent. That means more than one in four people looking for a job are willing to move if they are offered a job, said Elowson.
Katarina Söderberg and Rebecca Elowson and the Swedish Employment Agency highlighted, among other things, the potential of recruiting from southern Sweden.“Commitment is absolutely crucial”
In connection with the conference, Region Norrbotten's strategists in skills supply, Vera Westerlund and Caroline Stafström, also highlighted how regional development work can be used to strengthen the county's long-term skills supply. They described how the region allocates development funds to various initiatives each year.
– In Norrbotten, around forty skills supply projects are currently being conducted that the region co-finances. We see great commitment and many driven actors, which is absolutely crucial to meeting future needs, said Vera Westerlund.
Caroline Stafström also highlighted the importance of project ideas contributing to the long-term goals of the Norrbotten Strategy 2040:
– Projects should create concrete benefits. This could involve innovation, skills development, attractive living environments or strengthening workforce mobility.
Together, they both emphasized that Region Norrbotten not only finances projects, but also acts as support in the process - through advice, coordination and collaboration with, for example, EU funds.
At the Future Competence conference, it became clear that there is both a sense of urgency and a willingness to do something. The energy and commitment were palpable. The conference was characterized by a sense of hope and determination, despite the difficulties raised.
A children's choir from the Kulturskolan had the last word when they reminded us why the skills shortage is a challenge we just have to overcome. They sang Carola Häggkvist's Säg vär du stän:
It's time to start rethinkingBecause time is running out, it may soon endAnd I know that what we're building nowThere will be a day when our children will have
FACTS: Competence Arena Norrbotten
The Norrbotten Skills Arena project brings together Region Norrbotten, the county's municipalities, business companies, Akademi Norr and the Lapland Local Government Association in a long-term collaboration. The aim is to develop a common picture of the county's skills challenges and design interventions based on this factual basis.
The project is funded by the European Social Fund, ESF+, and runs from 2025-2027.
Text: Felicia Boström Lyckemo, Sara Stylbäck Vesa
Photos: Jacob Nilsson
