If a student in Skellefteå has problems with their computer, it may be MD Furkanul Islam who fixes it. He is one of two former Northvolt employees who got a job at the municipality's IT department.
It's clear that they are highly overqualified for the job they will do here, admits IT support manager Tommy Hunesjö without hesitation.
But Islam has no objections to the work tasks.
As long as it's something related to my field of study and has to do with computers, I'm happy, he says.
"Will be desolate"
After completing his master's degree in Örebro, he moved to Skellefteå and Northvolt at the beginning of last year. Quickly, he realized that something was not right at the company.
I joked with a colleague that "they'll be able to film a horror movie here in the future, because it will be completely desolate", says Islam.
A too rapid expansion, combined with not utilizing competence, is Islam's analysis of why Northvolt went under.
If you have some kind of degree, it should be valued. But Northvolt threw people in randomly. Some had a medical background from labs – who should have worked with quality control – but they were put to drive forklifts or clean things.
Islam was affected by the large layoff wave last autumn. In November, he worked his last day. As a non-EU citizen, he had three months to find a new job.
Getting an employer to take over the sponsorship of his visa proved difficult. The rescue came from the municipality, in an effort to retain Northvolt competence within the country. A great relief, he describes the message as.
The job includes 25 percent Swedish language training, to make him more employable, which is the goal of the effort.
I hope to find a good, stable job so I can settle down. I think this year will be a year of change, with life-changing decisions. If I don't find a job, I'll probably move back home.
Only one left
Of the group of 15 friends from Northvolt that he previously belonged to, he is the only one who still lives in the area.
There are many competent people who are moving away from here.
Despite the criticism, he felt sorry about Northvolt's bankruptcy announcement on Wednesday.
I can feel the employees' stress. So many have brought their families here, settled down, bought houses, and invested two years here. Now they have to find jobs, and with today's unemployment figures, it will be extremely difficult, he says.
Skellefteå municipality and, among others, the Employment Agency arranged a meeting for laid-off employees from Northvolt and various companies last autumn. 1,600 people and 85 employers attended. At a follow-up in late February, 50 had found employment, and an additional 100 employment processes were ongoing, according to the 55 employers who responded to the follow-up survey.
The municipality has also created some temporary language and introduction positions, with the goal of preventing competent people from moving abroad and making them employable, locally or elsewhere.
Source: Skellefteå municipality
The Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, which currently has almost 5,000 employees, sold its first battery in 2022 and then stated that it aimed for a stock exchange listing with a valuation of around 200 billion kronor.
But after a series of production problems, the winds turned last year. In the summer of 2024, they lost a large order from BMW, and during the autumn, the loss-making company made drastic staff cuts and project closures to get the economy back on track.
In November, Northvolt applied for bankruptcy protection in a court in Texas, USA, with the aim of restructuring the debt mountain of 60 billion and getting new capital during the first quarter of this year.
On Wednesday, the company applied for bankruptcy in the Stockholm District Court.
The bankruptcy application concerns the units Northvolt AB, Northvolt Ett AB, Northvolt Labs AB, Northvolt Revolt AB, and Northvolt Systems AB.
