Skills supply is a crucial, strategic issue for Swedish industry. For the past three years, researchers from Jönköping University's School of Engineering (JTH), Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) at Jönköping University (JU) and Uppsala University have worked together with business and industry organizations to identify and develop concrete activities and measures that will drive development towards secured skills supply in the metal industry. The results are now presented in a new report.

When the results of the Vinnova-funded project KOMPET were recently presented, the most important insight was that more expertise on skills supply is needed.

“Skills supply is a complex area. It is like an ecosystem where many different actors and activities need to interact,” says Anette Johansson, Senior Lecturer in Work Organization at JTH and project manager for KOMPET.

The challenge of recruitment

For a long time, Swedish industry has been doing very well. To some extent, this may have contributed to Swedish companies not focusing enough on the issue of skills supply.

“Many companies feel that it has become more difficult to recruit over the past ten years,” says Anette Johansson.

“The focus is often on recruitment and training when it comes to skills. As an entrepreneur, it's easy to think that you just buy services from a recruitment agency, or rely on the education system to do its job, but there is so much more to be done on this issue,” she explains.

The project, which is a collaboration between the three trade associations Gjuteriföreningen, Svenskt Aluminium and Jernkontoret, and four companies in the metal industry, highlights how companies can work concretely with skills supply, and what they can do to influence their own situation.

Action-oriented project

The project group set up workshops that focused on different themes, one of which was called the geographical location’. During the workshop, the various companies came up with suggestions on how they could solve the problem that certain places in rural areas are often difficult to recruit to.

“We have had clear discussions based on a model called “circle of influence”. It says that if you want to bring about change, you should focus on what you can influence yourself,” says Anette.

One example is the casting foundry, Bruzaholms, which, before and after one of the project's workshops, took the initiative to create a network in Eksjö. The company invited various representatives from the municipality, local history society and other companies to join the network. Together, they then reflected on what could be done to make the town itself a slightly nicer place to be.

“The idea of the network is that we should come up with ideas to make Eksjö more attractive to live and work in. It can be about small things, but if everyone helps, we all contribute to making the place we live and work in more appealing,” says Tove Frisk, CEO of Bruzaholms.

Through KOMPET, it became extra clear to Tove Frisk that companies must work with skills supply in a new way and that a good corporate culture starts from within.

“It's not about the moment when we hire a new person, it's about the people who together make up the culture, and the whole organization needs to be part of it. Like an ant colony where everyone is working towards the same goal,” she says.

The issue of skills supply requires focus

A key insight from the project is that companies need to look at themselves as if they were a product/service that they offer to customers who are also potential employees. It is important to think about what you as a company have to offer.

“Many companies are clamouring for skills but forget that we live in a different time now than we did a number of years ago. It really is a labour market. The younger generations in particular think that issues like work-life balance, sustainability and gender equality are hygiene factors, and want development opportunities and benefits on top of that,” says Anette Johansson.

In addition to the research report itself, the project team will produce a handbook for managers on how to work with skills supply based on the experiences gained in the project.