Anxious wait for Northvolt workers ahead of crucial meeting

The firm’s Head of Communications, Erik Zsiga, has told Swedish news agency TT that there will be a special get-together this week to discuss the startup's future.

"The board's proposal is for operations to continue," Erik Zsiga, Northvolt's Head of Communications said. However he confirmed that liquidation was still a possibility.

Even if Northvolt continues to do business, there are as yet no public details about how many of the company’s staff and projects will be rescued.

Global tech talent at risk

The company has been experiencing acute financial difficulties for months and its former CEO Peter Carlsson stepped down in November. Last year it applied for bankruptcy in the US, where it had been hoping to expand, after BMW pulled out of a €2bn deal.

The firm is one of Sweden’s biggest impact employers, with thousands of staff and contractors based in Västerås, near Stockholm, and Skellefteå in northern Sweden.

It has already laid off a fifth of its workforce since its financial problems mushroomed last summer. This includes many global workers who relocated to Sweden to work for the company, attracted by competitive pay offers and the firm's decision to have English as its corporate language.

In December the company announced it had hired German Marcus Dangelmaier, from global electronics company TE Connectivity to run Northvolt's operations in Skellefteå.