Ingenjör möter Ingenjör: Swedish IT Market Should Become More Diverse and International

The series Ingenjör möter Ingenjör (Engineer meets Engineer) is a long-awaited piece about the influx of foreign labor and today’s international workforce situation in Sweden. The life stories and work days of four engineers that we get to follow in the movie show how natural it is for a company to be international and hopefully, it will spur debate about the need of attracting global talent to Swedish companies.

I am proud that we, at Sigma, were asked to participate in the series; and our engineers, Jenny and Akshaya, got to tell their stories.

Why is labor migration needed in Sweden?

According to Almega’s IT & Telecom company report, the IT industry in Sweden will lack 70,000 IT experts by 2022. The workforce gap in the industry can lead to critical circumstances and problems in Sweden’s way of becoming a digital nation. The consulting market is already overheated.

The shortage of IT resources urges Swedish companies to seek new ways of finding talent. The influx of foreign labor is one of the effective ways to ensure stable business development.

I believe that the Swedish economy and society benefit greatly from labor migration. We attract talent, boost innovation through international experience and insights, the inflow of tax money increases, and our culture and society become richer.

Photo: Filming of Ingenjör möter Ingenjör is in process.

We see value in being a diverse and multicultural organization

Sigma Technology has been listed as one of the fastest growing companies in Sweden, according to the Universum’s Best Employers research. One of the key factors contributing to our success is diversity.

Talent is not something that fits into a specific template. We must reach out to everyone, regardless of the background. Therefore, we have systematically hired from other cultures, which means that today we consist of 800 bright minds from over 40 countries.

Integration and cultural exchange – keys to make a company more competitive

We have invested in building an organization where everyone feels included and seen.

With employees from all over the world, we are actively working to provide each individual with the right tools for easier access to both culture and work. One example of this is an opportunity for Swedish language education that we have in Gothenburg and in Karlskrona.

We are a global company, and our business language is English. However, we care a lot about helping our employees integrate into Swedish society. During our Swedish language sessions, the attendees are given the opportunity to practice speaking and writing, learn about Swedish social codes and office culture.

As important as it is for us to teach our employees about the Swedish culture, we are equally interested in learning about other work cultures. This helps us understand our global customers, which, in its turn, makes us both unique and competitive.

Follow the stories of our engineers, Jenny and Akshaya at http://bit.ly/ingenjorerforsverige

Kudos to Danir and Mellby Gård for sponsoring the series and Jan Linell together with Mediamentorerna that produced the series.

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Carl Vikingsson

CEO at Sigma Technology

carl.vikingsson@sigmatechnology.com

About Ingenjör möter Ingenjör / Ingenjörer för Sverige

How does it feel to do an internship at a Swedish company? And how is it going to work when you move to Sweden through labor immigration?

The web series Ingenjör möter Ingenjör (Engineer meets Engineer) follows Amer and Hassan during a week at Sigma and Roxtec companies. They get mentors, find out how to work in different departments. At the same time, Amer and Hassan explore why fika, after work, and the Swedish language are important components of everyday life at work. We also meet Akshaya and Jenny. They both came to Sweden through labor migration. They share how they enjoy their companies and lives in Sweden.

This series has been made to show solutions, inspire and raise questions internally in Swedish companies, as well as give practical tips to you as an engineer and the one seeking internship or work. See the series on our YouTube Channel Ingenjörer för Sverige (Engineers for Sweden) – http://bit.ly/ingenjorerforsverige

About Sigma Technology

Sigma Technology is a part of Sigma Group and is a global supplier of product information, embedded & software design, and offshore development. We are experts with a passion for technology and information, and take pride in delivering quality and constantly improving our deliveries. Our philosophy is “Local Drive – Global Strength”, therefore we have offices worldwide to be close to our customers.

For a complete picture, visit sigmatechnology.com.

For more information, check  Ingenjörer för Sverige YouTube channel.