Northvolt: A global talent brain drain or a boost for Swedish impact firms?
18 mars 2025
08:31
Around 800 people have already left the northern Swedish city of Skellefteå, home to Northvolt's biggest factory, since the company ran into major financial trouble last year.
Impact Loop's Maddy Savage digs into how the electric battery firm's recent bankruptcy announcement could further affect international recruitment and the growth of the region's impact sector.
Impact Loop's Maddy Savage digs into how the electric battery firm's recent bankruptcy announcement could further affect international recruitment and the growth of the region's impact sector.
The careers section of Northvolt's website is packed with inspirational stories of talented employees from across Sweden and around the world. Passionate so-called "Northvolters" who relocated to the small riverside city of Skellefteå, home to just 78,000 people and surrounded by forest. In their words, they made the move to work for Europe's biggest electric battery factory in order to tackle "meaningful challenges" and take on roles characterised by "purpose", "growth" and "decarbonisation".
But the Northvolt dream has turned into a nightmare for many international employees in recent months. Last autumn the impact company announced it was laying off around a quarter of its workforce including 1,100 people in Skellefteå.