Kompetensarena Norrbotten – collaboration for skills supply

Norrbotten is facing a complex social challenge. With a shortage of labor, low unemployment and ongoing social transformation, the county needs innovative solutions to secure its future skills supply. That is why Region Norrbotten, together with the county’s municipalities, has started Kompetensarena Norrbotten.

Kompetensarena Norrbotten is a three-year project between the actors:

• All municipalities in Norrbotten

• Developing Norrbotten – part of Region Norrbotten

• North Academy

• Lapland learning centers

In addition to the project partners, many other actors will be involved to join forces around the common challenges.

As representatives of the tourism industry, we have seen in our own ongoing business surveys that skills supply is the biggest obstacle to growth. It is a major challenge that requires strategic and coordinated efforts. That’s why our Strategic Partner Manager Oskar Hederyd was present at the project launch in Boden the other week. He took the time to present the needs of the hospitality industry and shared our insights with the approximately 50 participants on site.

“Kompetensarena is an initiative that our region needs,” says Oskar Hederyd, and continues

“We need to rethink and collaborate across borders to secure skills, especially in sectors like hospitality where we see so much potential for growth.”

The project aims to map the actual labor needs of different occupational groups in different municipalities. The aim is to create a platform for dialog and concrete measures. The aim is to develop a model to assess the county’s labor needs. With the help of the model, it will be possible to increase the readiness to act and deal with the challenges that exist in skills supply in Norrbotten.

“It is also extremely important that we actors in Norrbotten have clear and well-founded data to show others and work with. We know that a lot of positive things are happening in many industries and that the recruitment needs in the long term are very large, but the national forecasts do not always see that picture of our region. That is the most important thing I take with me from this start-up,” concludes Hederyd.