Flexibility is the key to collective agreements in the sector 

The Swedish tech industry is growing at a rapid pace and many of the companies in the industry are small and medium-sized. This requires flexible collective agreements that take particular account of the rapid development and the companies' unique conditions and needs.

Since 2019, Åsa Zetterberg has been the Director of TechSverige, the industry and employers' organization for companies in the IT, telecom and tech sector. She was previously the government's chief digital officer and she has also been head of digitization at Sweden's municipalities and regions.

The tech industry is a fast-growing sector. Turnover has passed SEK 1,000 billion, the industry accounts for 11% of Sweden's exports and the GDP share is almost 8%.

- There is a great need for skills in the industry and we need an additional 10,000 specialists per year until 2028. Therefore, it is extremely important for companies in the industry to be attractive employers, says Åsa Zetterberg.

Collective agreements are an important key to achieving this. 

- The negotiated packages on employment conditions are another big part of making our member companies more attractive. We have chosen to be part of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and thanks to that we can offer competitive terms and conditions for, among other things, redeployment, insurance and pensions," says Åsa Zetterberg. 

Given the rapid growth and development of the sector, it is important to be able to easily adapt the number of employees to the needs of the company. Conditions for labor mobility are needed. 

- In a fast-paced and changing world and market, we need both flexibility and stability, which collective agreements can provide. They provide greater predictability when so much else is changing. At the same time, they offer flexibility and the opportunity for companies to make a development journey in a fast-moving international market. 

The pre-negotiated elements also reduce the administrative burden on businesses, allowing them to spend more time and focus on what delivers profitability and growth," she adds.

Åsa Zetterberg says that one of the most common challenges an employer faces when considering a collective agreement is that they don't know what the agreement will mean for the company. She describes that there is a perception in the tech industry that collective agreements are not always needed. Some companies simply question whether the structure of a collective agreement is right for them, as the agreements were created at a time when fast-growing tech companies were not setting the standard.

- Therefore, we need to get better at explaining what a collective agreement means and how they are adapted to the needs of the industry. Here we can benefit from the help of our existing members. Then, of course, we must also continue to develop collective agreements together with our trade union partners. 

"Collective agreements have been adapted in many ways," says Åsa Zetterberg. "Among other things, companies can create their own wage process based on the centrally negotiated principles, which makes it possible to base it on the company's conditions. In good times, you follow the market's wages, while in bad times you can agree that wage increases can be slightly lower. This benefits the individual entrepreneur, but is also particularly important for start-up companies, where profitability can vary greatly from year to year.

The forms of employment and working time rules in TechSweden's collective agreements are some of the most flexible in the labor market and allow for negotiation with individual employees. 

- We are an industry that is characterized by small and medium-sized enterprises, and then it is even more important to have this flexibility. It is not that companies want to lay people off, but it is important to have some kind of assurance that it is still possible to deviate from LAS if necessary. Flexibility in the event of cutbacks is greater with collective agreements and the main agreement. Then more people will dare to hire and invest in growth," says Åsa Zetterberg.

Many companies in the tech sector operate in an internationally competitive market where flexibility in the way they work is a prerequisite for growth. 

- It is precisely this flexibility that needs to continue to develop if we are to continue to have a world-leading tech industry in Sweden. Collective bargaining agreements are needed to offer attractive conditions for employees and at the same time have stable rules to strengthen companies' competitiveness. It is also important to be able to attract foreign labor and get companies from other countries to invest in Sweden, and then different models for working time arrangements are needed for companies to operate in an international arena. Our task is to explain these benefits to companies. We also see that a lot is happening at EU level with more directives that affect the Swedish labor market. We need to find ways to influence the EU so that we can continue to have collective agreement solutions that work in Sweden," concludes Åsa Zetterberg.

Text: Karin Carlesten

Photo: Gustav Kaiser

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