Latest news with #Unionen
Local Sweden
10-07-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Swedish games industry in crisis as 'perfect storm' sparks mass layoffs
Bankruptcies, redundancies and difficulties finding investment have all resulted in a 'negative perfect storm' for the Swedish games industry, according to former game company CEO. Advertisement "The discussion has gone from 'it'll be better in 2024', to '2025 looks like it will be difficult', to 'oh god, what is 2026 going to be like'," Karl Magnus Troedsson told Svenska Dagbladet (SvD). Troedsson is founder and partner of games-focused risk capital company Behold Ventures, and former CEO of Swedish games company DICE. "It's natural that you reassess the size of your staff," he said, "but what we're seeing now is much larger. It's a negative perfect storm." The tempest has among other things already claimed games company Cult of the North, which went bankrupt last week despite an investment of 106 million kronor just two years ago. It had 30 staff. "The funding's gone. The studio is dying," its founder Adam Schaub wrote on LinkedIn. For years, gaming has been one of Sweden's largest exports, with the gaming industry employing thousands in recent years. Many of those are international workers on work permits. According to Bloomberg, major gaming company King, which is behind Candy Crush, is letting 200 people go, with the Unionen union confirming to SvD that 96 of those roles will be in Stockholm. "A lot of people are shocked," union ombudsman Dag Bremberg told the newspaper. "A large amount of those affected are foreign citizens whose residence permits rely on them having work in Sweden." Advertisement Bremberg told SvD that Unionen has over 400 members and a local union club at King. Discussions about signing a collective bargaining agreement have been ongoing for some time, he said, although this has not yet happened. Bremberg added that King is now attempting to get employees to resign voluntarily with a deadline of July 18th to accept or reject the offer. "Buyouts, I guess you could say," Bremberg said. "There are a lot of people who are disappointed about what is being offered, people who have been working there for a long time and who expected more. What happens if they say no to the offer?" King has been part of Microsoft since 2023. Microsoft announced plans to reduce staff across the company by over 17,000, confirming to SvD that this includes part of the gaming side of the company. It would not confirm specific figures. Advertisement Per Strömbäck, from Dataspelsbranschen, Sweden's trade association for video game companies, agreed that the labour market in the gaming industry has seen a clear shift. "Many of our members said previously that they had to look for people to fill their empty positions. Now they're getting a lot of qualified applications," he told SvD. Unlike Troedsson, he didn't describe the situation as a crisis, but did agree that times are tougher. "The years of major investments are behind us," he said, adding that large financial input from China and North America had in particular dried up. "The big companies in our industry are focusing more on consolidation now than starting something new. All the factors that were previously driving growth are pointing in the other direction now," he said. Do you work at one of the game companies undergoing layoffs or are you otherwise affected? Get in touch with us at news@ – you have the right to be anonymous.
Local Sweden
28-05-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Swedes fear alcohol shortage as Systembolaget summer strike looms
If there's one way to spark the ire of Swedes, it's by telling them they may not get their aquavit in time for Midsummer. Advertisement Swedes' access to alcohol could be limited this summer after the Unionen trade union threatened to launch industrial action at Swedish state-owned alcohol chain Systembolaget unless it reaches an agreement with business organisation Svensk Handel by June 10th. The strike would affect Systembolaget's headquarters as well as warehouses in Stockholm, Kungsängen, Sundsvall and Örebro. The warehouses supply alcohol to the chain's stores, and several hundred Unionen members would be involved in the strike. There is a risk that shelves could run dry as a result, and that some stores may even have to close. "The Midsummer Eve snaps is in danger," reads a headline in the Aftonbladet newspaper. The sticking point, according to Unionen, is its demands for part-time employees to be given the same rights to overtime compensation as full-time employees when they work more than their contracted hours. "We demand fair conditions for everyone," it said in a statement. "We regret that Unionen is choosing this path," said a representative from Svensk Handel in a statement. In Sweden, Systembolaget has a monopoly on over-the-counter sales of drinks with an alcohol content stronger than 3.5 percent ABV. FOOD AND DRINK:
Local Sweden
01-04-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Why the pay rise negotiated by Sweden's industrial unions matter
Sweden's industrial unions have agreed a 6.4 percent pay rise with employers, split over two years. But did you know that this is important even if you work in another industry? Advertisement What's happened? Sweden's industrial unions and employers have struck a new deal, setting the benchmark of salary increases at 6.4 percent over the coming two years, or in other words 3.4 percent this year and another 3 percent next year. The industrial unions? What are those? Sweden's five industrial unions are IF Metall, Unionen, Sveriges ingenjörer, GS and Livs, which represent the metal, grocery, engineering and forestry industries, among others. The unions were originally calling for a 4.2 percent pay rise for 2025, but later agreed on 6.4 percent to be split over two years. I'm not a member of any of these unions. Why is this important for me? Essentially, the industrial unions are responsible for setting the mark, or märket in Swedish, which is the percentage pay rise demand which provides the foundation for negotiations with employers. Crucially, the mark doesn't just apply to employees covered by the industrial unions, but all of the other unions in Sweden will generally adopt the same figure when negotiating their pay rises with employer organisations. This is because the industrial unions are considered to represent the industries most affected by international competition, so they're best placed to determine a fair pay rise. Advertisement Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Depending on who you ask, this is both good and bad. It means that a few unions have a lot of power and influence when deciding the mark, which other unions just have to follow. Although there's no specific law saying that unions have to follow the mark set by the industrial unions, it's the de facto rule for agreement negotiations. This means that industries outside of the industrial unions who want a higher pay rise – such as the Transport Union in 2025 – are often left without the power to negotiate this by themselves. What they can do to mitigate this is agree on other benefits, like a higher minimum wage for their specific industry, shorter working hours or increased holiday. There's also nothing to stop them from negotiating pay rises above the mark, although employer organisations may argue that the industries have set the mark and refuse to go above it. The fact that the mark is set in percent is also not ideal, as it widens the gap between high and low earners. So does this mean I'll definitely be getting a 6.4 percent pay rise over the next few years? Not quite. The employer organisations have agreed to offer this pay rise to employees, but that's employees as a whole rather than employees individually. Some collective bargaining agreements have what are called individgarantier (individual guarantees), which do guarantee a specific minimum salary increase for each employee, but this varies depending on the agreement and the workplace. Advertisement You can try to negotiate a larger pay rise than the 6.4 percent agreed by the unions by, for example, highlighting the fact that you've performed well over the year, taken on new challenges or gained new skills. You could also be given a lower salary increase, or even none at all (which is known as being nollad or "zeroed"), in which case your employer will need to provide information as to why, based on factors like your performance and skills, rather than things like financial difficulties in the company. They also have to explain the salary criteria and help you develop a plan for how you can meet them. What if I don't have a collective bargaining agreement? If you don't have a collective bargaining agreement then you'll be responsible for negotiating your own pay rise, but you can always refer to the mark set by the unions as a benchmark. If they don't offer you the pay rise you want, remember you can try negotiating for some other benefit instead, such as extra holiday, shorter working hours or more overtime compensation.
