What is the situation in the sector?

At the same time as we read that Sweden is hotter than ever when it comes to startups and companies that deliver new exciting IT services, there are notices of staff cuts from companies in the industry. How is this connected and what is the actual situation in the industry?

The demand is there. Digitization has only just begun and the demand for qualified and innovative IT services will be there for a long time to come. The problem is price levels. The industry is completely global and competes with companies in many other parts of the world, where cost levels are lower. This puts downward pressure on prices; for example, the hourly rate for an IT consultancy service is about the same as it was 20 years ago, and we still don't see an upward trend. The second problem is access to skills.

Access to specialist skills is central to the industry and companies invest heavily in retaining and attracting skilled employees.

Technological development is extremely rapid, and changes in skills are often a prerequisite for the survival of companies. We should be pleased that companies have the ability to adapt and cope with technological change - it secures the future business and this is what has made, for example, Ericsson so successful for almost 140 years.

Sweden is an attractive country for IT investments. We have high general IT skills, good education, creativity, a well-developed electronic infrastructure and a tradition of innovation. But many countries are investing heavily to catch up. We need to increase our capacity for innovation, reduce companies' fixed cost burdens, facilitate transitions and ensure that skills are available (e.g. by participating in projects such as Next Up). This will enable us to maintain a large IT sector in Sweden - despite being a very small country in the world.