MindDig prepares for international launch

"We are targeting green hotspots around the world, which are cities and regions with growing green industry potential that will need to vastly scale their net influx of talent. Our focus will be helping to foster the growth of green tech clusters," says Chana Svensson, who together with Markus Gustafsson founded MindDig and launched a new international recruitment portal at the end of 2021.

The MindDig platform was born out of the collaboration in the T 25 project, where several large companies in northern Sweden collaborate with Luleå University of Technology on recruitment and skills supply to cope with the large investments in green technology and fossil-free production that are ongoing or planned in northern Sweden. The companies that were involved in the collaboration from the start in 2019 were LKAB, SSAB, Boliden, H2 Green Steel, Mobilaris, Skellefteå kraft, Vattenfall and Northvolt.

The point for the companies is to cooperate and not compete when recruiting necessary skills. In turn, collaborating creates a cluster that forms a more attractive labor market for people interested in the jobs. At least as important as facilitating large companies' supply of skills is creating a labor market with small and medium-sized companies that can provide jobs for accompanying family members. And create attractive living environments.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises are the main game if we want to create green clusters for viable and sustainable growth. It is also important to retain talent," says Chana Svensson.

In just over a year, MindDig has grown rapidly, from the eight companies in the T25 group to a total of 60 contracted companies, 35 of which are now on the platform, 8 municipalities and the Region Norrbotten. Over 200,000 people have shown interest in the jobs on the platform and over 2,000 have registered there. Being on the platform gives you a chance to get more jobs if you don't get the first one you apply for, via a feature called “talent recirculation”.

Several new initiatives will be launched in the spring. One of them is the possibility to apply for jobs as a couple, a group of friends, or a skilled team. If several people want to move to new jobs together, they can apply for the jobs jointly in the cluster of companies on the platform. 

Now the owners want to scale this up to an international level. 

"Now the vision is 20-40 locations by 2027, in green clusters with green energy and green technology," says Chana Svensson.

They are aiming for places all over the world where, as in northern Sweden, there are sparsely populated regions with industries that want to develop in green technology and where there is a great need to attract talent.

Today, MindDig has eight employees in Luleå and Örebro. Within 5 years, they expect to grow to 150-200 employees, operating in 20-40 locations around the world.

Chana Svensson has a background as a lawyer and entrepreneur in the US. Markus Gustafsson is a Swedish entrepreneur who was a partner and CEO of the communications agency Prime.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com