Sweden Faces Job Losses and Workforce Challenges in Emissions-Intensive Industries

Sweden's emissions-intensive industries, employing over 72,000 people directly and supporting 86,000 indirect jobs, face serious risks of job losses due to inadequate climate policies and shifting investments abroad. Industry union representatives warn that the current national policies fail to meet EU climate demands for net-zero emissions by 2039, pushing investments to countries with less stringent regulations, which could destabilize 160,000 jobs essential to local economies and industrial export revenues.

Facken inom industrin calls for a proactive industrial policy that guarantees affordable, fossil-free electricity, improved infrastructure, enhanced workforce education, and innovation-promoting collaboration between public and private sectors. These measures aim to secure sustainable industrial jobs and support regions hosting key industrial investments.

Meanwhile, challenges also loom for older engineers aged 55 to 64, whose unemployment rate rises exponentially with age, nearly quadrupling by 64 compared to younger counterparts. Despite an overall decline in engineering unemployment since September 2023, older engineers remain pessimistic about job prospects, with about 10,000 engineers aged 60-69 currently out of work. Sveriges Ingenjörer emphasizes the risk of losing valuable senior engineering expertise crucial for digitalization, AI, and climate transition unless employers better utilize this demographic's skills.

Johan Kreicbergs, head of societal policy at Sveriges Ingenjörer, highlighted the contradiction between political ambitions for extended working lives and the difficulty many older engineers face in securing employment. The combined concerns of job insecurity in emissions-heavy sectors and underused senior engineers underscore the pressing need for integrated policies balancing climate goals with employment security and workforce inclusion in Sweden.