This summer, more than 700 people were notified of termination at Ortviken’s paper mill in Sundsvall. Now the company Northvolt, which is building its large battery factory in Skellefteå, wants to solve some of its recruitment problems by hiring paper industry workers from Ortviken.
– I see huge potential. If we look at the battery production process itself, there are great similarities with different types of industries, including the paper and pulp industry, says Katarina Borstedt, competence supply manager at Northvolt.
The corona pandemic has accelerated structural change in the labor market, such as the one that has been going on for a long time in the paper industry, with changed reading habits and reduced demand for printing paper when fewer people wanted to advertise.
In August, it became clear that printing paper production in Sundsvall would be shut down, SCA notified 710 people of redundancies.
At the same time, 400 km north along the Norrland coast in Skellefteå, Northvolt plans to employ around 3,000 people. But the labor force locally is not enough and the battery company is looking for staff elsewhere.
In November is held a recruitment meeting for paper industry workers in Sundsvall.
– Already now during the last quarter, we will start hiring those who will work in production, because at the end of next year, the first batteries will leave our factory, says Katarina Borstedt at Northvolt.
Jan Öberg, chairman of the local union Pappers department 16 in Ortviken, says that there is an interest in working with battery manufacturing among those who are now being laid off.
– There are several who talk about it, that you are hungry, and you have even started to think about whether you should rent a house together or whether you should initially live in a caravan and so on.
Right now is going on negotiations with SCA on the redundancies and on support for finding new jobs.
– It is a prerequisite for people to be able to get away, that we get some support and the individual gets support. It is worse to be at home in Sundsvall and not have a job, says Jan Öberg.