Active Efforts to Attract Young Talents and Future experts

In 2030, a shortage of 100,000 people is expected in the IT sector in Sweden unless the government and business community take initiatives to secure skills supply. The major investments in fossil-free and sustainable energy conversion in Norrland require a qualified workforce to remain in the region. To retain our competitiveness, we must invest in young talents, make the tech industry visible to professionals and students in other sectors, and contribute to greater gender equality within the IT sector.

Technology’s role in improving the future is about making our lives better and solving global problems. Through innovations, we can harvest cleaner energy, better healthcare, more accessible education, and smarter cities. Technology also helps us communicate more easily and make the economy more efficient. But it’s important that we use technology responsibly so that everyone can benefit from these improvements.

To promote young people’s interest in technology and attract more individuals, especially girls, to the IT industry, we believe in creating inspiring and inclusive environments. We have addressed these issues internally on several occasions. We have compiled a range of actions that can be taken to increase interest and make our industry relevant to more people:

• Highlight and showcase female role models in technology and programming.
• Share stories of men actively supporting women to contribute to promoting changes in organisations.
• Create mentorship programs where young girls can receive guidance from women already established in the industry.
• Offer free educational programs and workshops that introduce technology and programming in an accessible way.
• Collaborate with schools and local organizations to incorporate more technology.
• Organize events and exhibitions specifically targeting young girls, where they can explore and interact with exciting technical projects and meet women in the industry.
• Develop educational games and apps focused on teaching basic programming concepts in a fun way.
• Use characters and scenarios that girls can relate to in order to increase engagement.
• Use inclusive language and avoid stereotypes when marketing technology and programming activities.
• Family-friendly events where both parents and children can participate and learn together.

In addition to the above, we are committed to promoting gender equality within the IT industry. We aim to create a work environment where diversity and inclusion are encouraged and where everyone has equal opportunities to grow and develop within their professions. We are convinced that a diverse and inclusive workforce not only enriches our company but also strengthens the entire IT community. If more girls choose careers in IT, we have a greater chance of meeting the need for IT resources in Sweden in the coming years. Our contribution in Norrland is one of many initiatives that will be needed. If more young people choose to stay in the industry, we will be closer to securing our future skills needs.

“For our company, it is crucial that we have access to competent and committed employees to meet the needs of our customers.”

If you look at how many students that remains after two years after the accepted degree, then it is approximately 1/3 of the students who remain in the county of Västerbotten. Since companies primarily demand experienced experts, our newly graduated students in Umeå often find themselves outside the job market. We wanted to change this, and therefore, we have started the Young Talent program, which aims to secure our future for both companies and the new talents. We take the risk and make the necessary investments to create job opportunities both now and in the future.

In collaboration with various companies in Norrland, we at Sigma Technology North Solutions have created a tailored program that offers young talents the opportunity to be introduced to the working life and access further education and mentorship. This is an opportunity for both companies and young people to create the perfect match for long-term recruitment. In addition to the opportunity to work in a large workplace with the latest technology, our talents also have access to mentorship with an experienced developer.

For our company, it is crucial that we have access to competent and committed employees to meet the needs of our customers. We strive to build and maintain a strong local talent pool in Umeå. To achieve this, we see education and recruitment of local talents as a priority. We believe that collaboration with educational institutions and active engagement in local networks can strengthen the link between education and business and thus increase the availability of qualified candidates. Hence our investment in Young Talent, which is a cross-functional setup, a junior developer gets mentorship, a senior developer gets new career opportunities, and our customer gets their needs met with quality delivery, locally.

Vlora Ramadani & Linda Lundstedt

In addition to being passionate about finding more young people for the industry, Vlora is the CEO of Sigma Technology North Solutions in Umeå. And this is also where Linda is passionate about a more gender-equal industry and works as a project manager.