As head of Hitachi Energy in Sweden, he is fighting to get production located in Sweden. And that is not always easy in the international competition.
"It's no secret that if you end up in Canada you get free land, a bag of money that relieves your budget, government support. You get that in Germany, you get that in France, you get that in Canada; you don't get that in Sweden," says Tobias Hansson.
He thinks that's basically a good thing.
"But on the other hand, we have to be best in class in all these other things. Make sure we take care of social services, schools, healthcare, social care, transport, the railways. And I don't think the government lives up to that," he continues.
Lack of industrial policy
The focus of politics has ended up on immigration and crime, which according to Hansson is also right.
"But we lack a clear industrial policy in Sweden today."
It is especially important, according to Hansson, in smaller towns that are suffering from growing pains, where the municipality itself is unable to bear the large economic burden. He wants to see some form of government growth fund.
Hitachi Energy is becoming more and more synonymous with the small municipality of Ludvika in Dalarna.
There is a shortage of housing and transport. Schools and childcare are other sectors under strain for the many employees who are steadily filling the municipality, according to Hansson.
100 a month
Hitachi Energy is growing by around 100 employees a month, and has been doing so for the past few years. Finding the right staff is becoming an important part of the business.
So when others lay off staff, Hitachi casts its net and hires them. When Northvolt went bankrupt last year, around 150 battery workers got jobs at Hitachi.
"We succeeded relatively well, but we are still a little frustrated because we could have taken much, much more from Northvolt," says Hansson.
Ericsson and Volvo have also made major announcements, to name just a few.
"On day two we called and said, 'Hey, we've seen that you need to cut back, we need to increase, and we can work together to find them a new job.'"
Teenage deportations
The effect of the so-called teenage deportations has been less positive. Hitachi Energy has also been "affected" by individual cases, and indirectly in the form of foreign workers perhaps being reluctant to come to Sweden to work when they hear that their children may be leaving.
"I think those kinds of rumors are out there right now and they're not good."
