Should be noted that employment in Sweden is as far from “at will” as you can get. There is basically no legal difference between a union worker at a paper mill and a software developer at a startup (once it reaches a certain size). The law basically says that the last one in must be first out, and sidestepping this order requires negotiating severance with unions (yes also for white collar tech workers). So if you need to reduce headcount by 10% it’s going to be cheap if you fire the 10% most recent hires. If you want yo choose the 10% to cull it’s going to be expensive. The compensations in the article don’t look very generous at all.
It seems like the article is saying that the fact that there isn't a union is actually a big help in the ability to do this kind of lay-off.
> Swedish companies must negotiate with unions before layoffs. However, this was not the case at Klarna, nor is it the case at most Swedish tech companies. Klarna does not have a collective bargaining agreement (called “kollektivavtal” in Swedish) in place. This means that Klarna as an employer is not forced to negotiate layoffs with a union. Instead, Klarna is entitled to negotiate directly with each affected employee, which they are doing.
Klarna is also pretty big (7500 employees according to the article) so I imagine it doesn't have to do with the company size.
I never heard this before. I thought unions were always involved, regardless of kollektivavtal or not. Would like to hear from a Swedish expert on this.
Yes, if unions exist at the company (which they did at Klarna), a company is required by law to negotiate with ALL employee organisations present at the company. This is one of the reasons large companies adopt kollektivavtal, it allows them to only have to negotiate with one union for employment changes.
> If the employer is not bound by any collective agreement at all, the employer is obliged to negotiate in accordance with § 11 with all relevant employee organizations in matters relating to dismissal due to a lack of work [...]
In Sweden the Unions actually makes it easier for both the workers and the company. This is a big surprise for most foreign leaders coming in unprepared for swedish culture :-)
I'm no expert but how I under stand it is the company can offer x months of pay if you leave by your self. This does not need to be negotiated with the union. If this makes enough people leave, there will be no negotiation. If however they want more to leave they have to negotiate with the Union that the workers are connected to, it does not matter if the company have a contract with them or not.
Also, they have to give six months notice to the unemployment agency if they plan to fire more than 100 people.
