Response to interpellation 2024/25:57 on the power outages in Skellefteå
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the layoffs in Skellefteå and how the government should support those affected. L argues that the region has low unemployment and that Arbetsförmedlingen has great flexibility to adapt measures to local needs 1. L emphasizes that the government is making investments in vocational training and removing previous restrictions to make it easier for individuals to get jobs 2. S believes there is a major skills shortage and requests specific measures for third-country nationals who have worked in the green transition 3. S also criticizes budget cuts to universities that could affect transition programs 4. L emphasizes the importance of cooperation between all actors to create security 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Isak From has, against the background of the layoffs in Skellefteå, asked me what help all those who are now being laid off can expect from me and the government. He has also asked me whether I am considering instructing Arbetsförmedlingen or the County Administrative Board to take some initiatives to support Skellefteå municipality in its currently difficult situation or otherwise take any special measures as a result of the situation that has arisen.
That a notice of redundancy obviously creates a worrying situation for many who risk losing their jobs. However, from the time a notice has been issued, it often takes some time before it becomes clear which individual persons will be laid off and thus also which measures may become necessary. Furthermore, it is common for the number of persons who are actually laid off to be lower than the number who were initially issued a notice of redundancy. Skellefteå is located in a region with low unemployment. Around 3 percent are registered as unemployed with Arbetsförmedlingen, which can be compared with more than double at the national level.
Arbetsförmedlingen has a national redundancy management and extensive experience of acting in cases of major layoffs. This can range from providing information so that the employer can inform its staff themselves to being a party on-site together with employee and transition organizations. In connection with major redundancies, Arbetsförmedlingen also has the opportunity to participate in cooperation with the employer who has issued the notice of dismissal, the unions and relevant transition organizations, the municipality, the regional development responsible actor, Tillväxtverket and the county administrative board. In 2022, Arbetsförmedlingen established an office for transformation and matching in the north in Skellefteå.
Since Northvolt is covered by transition agreements, it may be relevant to provide support to the affected individuals through these agreements. The transition organizations, through their support for those notified and dismissed, take a great responsibility to avoid the affected persons becoming unemployed. In addition, there is the transition study support and the basic transition and skills support.
Arbetsförmedlingen can offer support to find a new job to facilitate for persons who have been affected by a dismissal. A person who is registered with Arbetsförmedlingen can then take part in the service and the measures that the authority offers. Arbetsförmedlingen has a great flexibility to adapt its measures and allocate resources based on regional and local needs within the framework of the goals for the operations that the Riksdag and the Government have established. For third-country nationals, the access to measures may differ based on the person's right to stay and work in the country.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that the government is in a dialogue with the parties concerned and is following the developments closely and based on the need for further measures.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Employment for that we could have this debate at short notice. It is urgent, and the questions are important.
Several thousand employees enter Northvolt's gates in Skellefteå every day. Northvolt is, despite startup difficulties, the leading battery producer in the EU. That parts of the government base, specifically Sverigedemokraterna, have consistently questioned the entire green industrial transition and that every single krona would go to northern Sweden makes those involved, for their part, question what the government is doing.
Due to the extremely large skills shortage prevailing within the industry and the public sector in northern Sweden, there is every reason to take advantage of those who are now forced to leave Northvolt. Regardless of whether they come from Västerbotten, the rest of Sweden, or a third country, they have made an active choice to invest their time in Skellefteå.
Madam Speaker! Since my interpellation was written, it has emerged that more businesses are laying off staff and more municipalities are affected. I assume that the same regulatory framework applies and the same measures are taken in Norsjö and Lycksele if employees are laid off in these locations in the wake of the changes occurring at Northvolt.
Madam Speaker! Many of those who have come from third countries, that is, countries outside the EU, are here on a work visa. They have made an active choice. Many of them are well-educated with at least upper secondary school competence. Many industries and companies in northern Sweden, including Boliden, LKAB, Vattenfall, Stegra - formerly H2 Green Steel - Volvo and SCA are in demand of competence. Even within the public sector, competence is in demand.
Three months can be a short time. An employee may be offered a probationary employment that meets the conditions in the collective agreement but falls below the minimum wage level. Will the Minister for Employment and the government then, just as the municipal councilor Lorents Burman in Skellefteå has requested, consider introducing a special measure? Governments have been able to take measures in the event of special circumstances over the years.
In view of this, I ask the Minister for Employment: Does the Minister for Employment and the government intend to introduce any specific measure for those who have come from third countries to work in the green industrial transition?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Isak From for the commitment in this important issue.
The warning at Northvolt and the direct and indirect follow-on effects for subcontractors and other actors in the region occur in a place where unemployment is very low and where there are many other employers who are searching for competence with a flashlight. This is an opportunity in a dark situation. But the conditions are good. It is a very strong labor market that meets the individuals who are now losing their jobs.
There is also an incredible gathering of forces and determination among actors at both municipal and regional as well as national levels, where everyone is working intensively to provide people with support and equip them to take the jobs that are available. The transition organization is in place. The undersigned has personally been to Skellefteå and held talks with all parties. The state actors are on site. The municipality is very active. The regional actors on both the private and public sides are very active.
There is a strong determination and a strong commitment behind the fact that it is necessary to guide people to the jobs that exist. Recruitment meetings are scheduled, where employers seeking people will be able to meet individuals who are job seekers. I believe that is planned for next week. Measures are therefore being taken on a weekly basis in this situation.
Madam Speaker! At the same time, we do not yet know which individuals will be dismissed from Northvolt. It is, of course, only when that is known that one can know in detail what type of measures need to be taken. There is a readiness and preparations to, in quotation marks, press the button as soon as it is required and society knows which individuals de facto will have to leave their jobs at Northvolt.
We do not know today what the distribution looks like between people with roots in third countries who are here on work permits and Swedish-born people or people who live in Sweden. It remains to be seen. We will all know more about this further ahead. Already now, the actors are informing about the regulatory framework regarding third-country nationals to create security in this situation and to clarify towards employers what applies and what opportunities exist to employ the individual who has a work permit and potentially can move on to another profession at another workplace.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! After I submitted this interpellation, as I mentioned, other warnings have come from other companies. A number of bankruptcies have also been the result of a part of Northvolt going bankrupt. It is very bad for Sweden that the housing policy is now failing even in that part of the country where housing construction and unemployment for construction workers have been low. It is largely a completely different area, but it is clear that that category expects measures. It is about addressing the deficient housing policy.
I was a bit surprised that the Minister for Employment has missed that another part of the government - the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy and Enterprise Ebba Busch - constantly refers back to the government's decision on acceleration offices and the two industrial coordinators who have been hired at the Government Offices to match the green industrial transition. I think that is a good initiative, and it is also necessary to highlight it. I am, therefore, a bit surprised that one hand does not know what the other is doing. If the Minister for Employment is not aware of this, it is deeply concerning.
There is a part that the Minister for Employment omits. The budget that will probably be passed here means that approximately 40 million disappears from the four northernmost universities and colleges. This means poorer opportunities for, for example, LTU in Luleå or Umeå University, which have indicated that they want to start transition programs specifically for those who have a competence of a technical nature that would enable them to transition to working within the mining sector or the energy sector. Luleå Technical University is seeking that assignment.
We had a debate earlier here in the chamber with the new Minister for Education, Johan Pehrson. He could neither confirm nor deny that such programs are being started, as the government does not govern the universities, but there is nevertheless a strong will from academia to contribute to the skills supply within that part of the industry that sees an opportunity to retain some of the expertise in the region.
We all hope that Northvolt will take back its employees and reach full capacity and that Sweden will continue to be a leader in terms of battery production, but that is not quite where we are right now.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to Member Isak From for the commitment! I think it is a strength that we can agree so broadly within Swedish politics on the importance of transition and that there is support for people who become unemployed during these types of large-scale cutbacks and layoffs that we have seen in Skellefteå. They have major consequences for the region and naturally also nationally in the sense that this is a growing region that has great opportunities to create growth in our entire country. This is a very important issue.
The issue of skills supply is important, and the government has very high ambitions when it comes to education and, not least, finding vocational training that enables people to train for real jobs. Therefore, the government is making major investments in vocational training within the framework of both what is called regional vocational adult education and what is called vocational higher education. There, one undergoes a tailored education to get a job at the other end – often at a company that is crying out for competence and wants and needs to hire. This is important.
The government is also making major changes and removing the limitation that existed previously, under Social Democratic governments, regarding providing the opportunity for vocational colleges for people who have not yet taken their high school exam. We are now removing that limitation, and it creates an opportunity for more people to pursue an education that leads to a job.
Madam Speaker! Lastly, I want to emphasize the importance of all actors in the region, nationally and locally, maintaining a common line forward in this situation. There is a strong determination and a strong commitment to ensuring that the people who lose their jobs are guided toward the vacant jobs that exist in the region.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Employment! I share the view that we need to work together. It also means that those on the ground need to feel the government's support, whether it concerns LTU wanting to start a special transition course or Arbetsförmedlingen wanting to make a special effort to extend the opportunity for those coming from third countries to seek jobs here. It is not certain that the minimum level in the wage requirement is met until one has received their permanent employment. In many places, one might perhaps want a probationary employment.
It must nevertheless be so that Sweden signals that this activity, which is important for the green industrial transition, can continue and that one ensures that the competence that has been developed and that enters through the gates at Northvolt can continue to contribute to it.
Once again: Consider a special effort, as it may be needed. We will, of course, follow this. The acceleration office that the government itself has introduced will certainly come up with similar proposals. One sees that these people were truly needed.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I think it is a strength that we can discuss these types of issues here in the Riksdag and that we can do so in a good tone and a good spirit of cooperation.
In these matters, I think it is important that we set aside political differences of opinion and work based on what is best for Skellefteå, Västerbotten and Sweden, and that we gather all good forces so that we together do everything we can to ensure that security is now created for the people who feel anxiety when changes and cuts occur.
The message is clear from the government's side. We see and hear the concern, but we are also determined and committed. We know that it is a very strong labor market regionally. There are vacant jobs to apply for. An individual, if they become unemployed, will receive help from all of society's resources and be guided toward the vacant jobs that exist. It can involve educational initiatives and different types of measures that enable one to take the jobs that exist in the region.
It is important that this work happens quickly, which it is doing. There is a strong readiness among all actors in society to act, and it is important that we do this in broad political unity here in the Riksdag.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.