Northvolt has around 5,000 employees in Skellefteå, Västerås, and Stockholm.
After a long period of great economic uncertainty, they were met on Wednesday with the news that bankruptcy is a fact.
Right now, I, or we at IF Metall, are thinking of all the employees who feel a great uncertainty, says Lena Lundgren, who is the local coordinator for the union in Skellefteå.
They have done so for a long time, but it is, of course, even more insecure now. Our focus since we received this information has been to try to be available for members.
The local Unionen club in Skellefteå writes in a comment that the bankruptcy is a heavy message for the employees.
"It is, of course, a heavy message and a very dark day for all of us who have worked hard every day and hoped that the company would get through this tough time", says Vice Chairman Shaneika Jeffrey.
Work permits at risk
When Northvolt established itself, job seekers from all over the world were attracted to the battery giant. For employees from countries outside the EU, the situation is now extra tough, according to Helene Robson, who is the chief lawyer at the trade union Sveriges ingenjörer.
It is extra precarious for them to quickly find a new job if they are laid off. Otherwise, their work permit can be revoked, and then they will not be allowed to stay in Sweden anymore, she says.
Exactly how many of the approximately 5,000 employees who are affected by the problem is unclear.
Three months
When Northvolt announced layoffs last autumn, there were around 1,700 employees from third countries, according to Hanna Geurtsen, assistant project manager for work permits at the Migration Agency. About 300 of them were laid off in connection with the notice.
The basic rule is that a person must find a new job within three months from the expiration of the notice period, otherwise, the work permit risks being revoked.
In the short term, all Northvolt employees will receive a salary via the state's wage guarantee, which is the task of the bankruptcy administrator to decide on. In the slightly longer term, many will face registration with the Employment Agency and unemployment benefits, fears Helene Robson.
If you draw parallels to other giant bankruptcies in modern times, such as Saab Automobile, it is probably inevitable that a very large part of the staff will be laid off, she says.
