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These are some of the jobs that have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak in Sweden

Across the world, national economies and individual sectors and businesses are struggling to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. The travel and hospitality industries have been particularly hard-hit. Here's a look at the jobs that have so far been affected by the virus outbreak.

Published: 19 March 2020 15:23 CET
Updated: 24 March 2020 07:49 CET
These are some of the jobs that have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak in Sweden
A shut-down Volvo factory at Tuve in Sweden. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

Airlines

The airline SAS has temporarily laid off around 10,000 staff or 90 percent of its workforce. Around 3,500 of those were staff in Sweden. The Danish and Norwegian governments have agreed to bail out the company with support of three billion kronor.

Norwegian Air has also temporarily laid off 90 percent of its staff, which is around 7,300 employees.

And domestic airline BRA has temporarily laid off and reduced working hours for 600 workers in Sweden.

Travel

Swedavia, the company which operates Sweden's airports, has temporarily laid off 1,900 members of staff and given notice that 800 workers may be laid off. 

The ferry company Stena Line laid off 950 staff who worked both at sea and on land, saying the move was “a direct effect of the impact that the coronavirus has had on Stena Line's passenger operations”.

Hospitality

Hotel group Scandic has said it will terminate around 2,000 staff in Sweden, or around half of its permanent employees in the country.

Hotel chain Nordic Choice has laid off around 4,500 staff in Sweden, along with around 3,000 in Norway and Denmark.

In Gothenburg, the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre has said it will lay off 300 employees, a third of its work force, although it said it would use short-term lay-offs where possible in order to retain staff.

Manufacturing

Both Volvo Cars and truck maker Volvo have temporarily laid off all their staff in Sweden, around 20,000 employees each. When the decision was announced on March 20th, it was unclear how long this would last. The truck maker also said it would let 5,000 consultants go completely.

Truck maker Scania also sent around 9,000 employees home as it closed its factories in Sweden until at least April 13th. Around 50 of them were sent to another company, Getinge, which makes ventilators for mechanical breathing, to help increase its production for the healthcare sector.

Gothenburg bearing and seal manufacturing company SKF has temporarily laid off 1,500 workers for eight weeks, following an agreement with the union. Many employees will see their hours cut down to 40 or 80 percent of the original, but will have their salaries topped up to close to the full amount thanks to state support. 

We know that our readers are affected by the coronavirus outbreak in many ways, not least the negative economic impact, and if there's any way we can help, we at The Local – and many of our readers – would like to do that.

If your job has been affected and you'd like to share your story, please email us. If your business, or your work as a self-employed worker, has been affected and there's some way our community can help, let us know how we can do that by filling out the form below. 

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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