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- Blombäck, William, 1999-, et al.
(författare)
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Skellefteå under omvandling : en studie av yrkesstruktur och flyttmönster under etableringsfasen av Northvolt
- 2024
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- In recent years, Skellefteå has had significant population growth linked to the establishment of Northvolt. Between 2020 and 2023, the population growth in Skellefteå was 4.6 percent, which should be compared with an average population growth of 1.7 percent in Sweden. The main purpose of the report has been to describe how the labor market in Skellefteå has changed after 2017. The population growth can largely be explained by a sharp increase in immigration. For many years, the municipality has indeed had a positive net migration which, however, has not been able to compensate for the aging population. Therefore, the population has remained at stable levels until 2017. The strong immigration in recent years is mainly made up of men aged 25 to 64. In general, the proportion of men in the age range 15 to 64 is increasing, while the number of women aged 15 to 24 is decreasing, which may pose a future challenge connected to how to break the negative nativity trend. Even before 2017, Skellefteå had a high proportion of men, and the reduction in the number of women aged 15 to 24 may in the long run lead to a further distortion of the gender balance. A large part of the immigrants has for a long time consisted of people from the immediate area (mainly Umeå, but also smaller municipalities). This trend continues after 2017, when the number of migrants from Umeå increased even further. A significant part of the immigrants are also primarily men, but also women, from other countries. This too can pose a future challenge if they are not integrated into society.Those who move to Skellefteå often get jobs that only require shorter training or introduction. This has increased since the establishment of Northvolt regardless of education level. At the same time, the degree of job changes is high among these immigrants, which indicates that these occupations are entry-level occupations. We also see that emigration has also increased in recent years, and this mainly concerns women aged 15–24. While immigrants mainly come from the surrounding municipalities, young Skellefteå residents move to university towns and the larger cities. In addition to the migration patterns, the commuting patterns have also changed somewhat over time. Commuters to Skellefteå mainly come from Umeå, and this has increased after 2017, followed by Stockholm (which, however, is less than half the number compared to those from Umeå) closely followed by Piteå, Luleå, Norsjö and Robertsfors. Apart from Umeå and to some extent Luleå, the number of individuals for all municipalities to commute from has decreased after 2017, while commuting from Skellefteå also has generally increased. Here too, Umeå is the most common place of work, followed by the neighboring municipalities.The proportion of employees in professions that require a longer university or college education is increasing in Skellefteå, which in itself is a positive development as it generally reduces sensitivity to future structural changes. On the other hand, the percentage who get a job immediately after graduation is decreasing, even among those with a longer university or college education. This applies both to those already living in Skellefteå, but above all to immigrants who, to an increasingly lesser extent, start working in professions that require a university degree. This may be due to a matching problem between the applicants and the employers. But it may also be due to a change in search behavior among job seekers, where new graduates immediately after graduation first apply for a simpler profession and then for more qualified professions. It may also be due to higher requirements for work experience among employers. As the large majority of immigrants with university qualifications remain within this occupational group, it indicates a growing matching problem driven by over-education as the labour market segments experiencing employment growth do not require university education.A high school diploma (gymnasium) is the most common highest level of education in Skellefteå. At the same time, the number of employees in professions that require a shorter education or introduction is decreasing. The fact that the number of people employed decreases in professions that require a shorter education or introduction need not be a negative thing given that it does not lead to increased unemployment. It can even be a positive development if it leads to more people being employed with more advanced tasks. On the other hand, it can lead to increased unemployment among individuals with a shorter education, a group that has more difficulty adapting to changed conditions on the labor market. Given such a development, it may become necessary to carry out continuing education efforts for that group. A certain increase in the workforce that has not completed upper secondary education can be seen in recent years and is also a trend that should be actively countered.Incomes in Skellefteå have risen since 2017, especially men's incomes. Immigrants to Skellefteå generally have lower wages compared to the population as a whole. This is probably due to the fact that the immigrants work to a greater extent in occupations that require shorter training or introduction. The move-in together with generally higher wages and limited construction has had a positive effect on housing prices. Higher housing prices should lead to increased construction in the municipality, but this can be dampened by a higher cost situation (wages, building materials, interest, etc.) in the construction sector. Limited housing construction leads to a redistribution of income from wage earners to property owners. Those who move into Skellefteå live to a greater extent in tenements and condominiums compared to the average Skellefteå resident. Immigrants settle to a large extent in the central parts of Skellefteå. Again, this does not have to be negative as it often takes time for a new mover to get to know a new city and it can take time to find longer-term accommodation. Given that the moving surplus also consists of many young men, centrally located apartments are more suitable for this group compared to detached houses for families with children. The limited mobility on the housing market can be another reason why immigrants end up in certain areas and in certain types of housing to a large extent. It is possible to make some comparisons with the labor market, where a simpler job can be an entry-level job while you are looking for a longer-term job.
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