Active gender equality work is crucial for the green transition

The ongoing green transition in northern Sweden entails enormous needs for labour with the right kind of skills who also choose to move here. Active gender equality work and better coordination between different actors are crucial to succeed in this according to a research report from Luleå University of Technology.

Attracting permanent residents and not just commuters to the region requires more than a flourishing labour market. The report highlights the importance of there being a job for accompanying partners, housing, functioning communications, an attractive leisure life for both children and adults, as well as functioning welfare in the form of school, health care and social care.

“The range of leisure activities must be broadened. It is not enough to offer and make visible traditional male leisure activities such as hockey, hunting and fishing. We have to examine even more critically which leisure interests get money and which are given publicity, says Karolina Parding”, professor of Human work science at Luleå University of Technology and co-author of the report.

Gender-segregated labour market

The equality perspective must permeate working life. Working and employment conditions in the welfare sector, the hospitality industry and the cultural and creative industries, all of which are dominated by women, must be improved to attract labour according to the report's authors. At the same time, the gender-segregated labour market is in itself an obstacle for green transition. The male-dominated technical sector needs to work more actively with gender equality to cope with the supply of skills.

In order to succeed in increasing immigration to the level required for the green transition, a large part of the workforce probably needs to be recruited abroad. The actors in the region must take into account that new target groups, especially those born abroad and young people, may have different interests and needs than the traditional workforce in Norrbotten.

“All actors have a joint responsibility for ensuring that there is a diversity perspective on the green transition. It is important that, for example, Region Norrbotten, the Swedish Public Employment Service, the municipalities, various educational institutions, the employers and the labour market partners, and civil society work together to attract the workforce.”

Cooperation is important

Collaboration between employers and education providers can take place in the form of, among other things, dialogue regarding matching between skills needs and education, as well as various relationship-building platforms, for example degree work and internships.

“The match can be improved. But employers cannot count on a perfect match, employers may, to a greater extent, need to train individuals for the positions and skills needed”, says Karolina Parding.

The report analyses six different industries: Arctic test beds, energy technology, space technology, cultural and creative industries and the hospitality industry. The report's two other authors are Thomas Ejdemo, researcher in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Luleå University of Technology and Emelie Skeppar Huuva, alumni from Luleå University of Technology. The report has been made on behalf of Region Norrbotten, the County Administrative Board, and Luleå University of Technology within the framework of the collaborative project Regional förnyelse (Regional renewal).

Report: Rekryteringsbehov och utbildningsutbud till och med 2030 Pdf, 2.5 MB, opens in new window.