Swedish News:

Five new deaths in Sweden March 21. New crisis package for companies. Volvo Trucks lays off 20,000. Volvo Cars stops production. 

  • View of Stockholm over the tower of City Hall. Photo: Henrik Trygg
  • Five new deaths in Sweden March 21
    A total of 1,623 people have been diagnosed with the corona virus in Sweden. Of these, 16 have died, five of which were today. 53 percent of those infected are men and in the majority of cases the person has been infected abroad, according to the Public Health Authority, Folkhälsomyndigheten. However, the total number of infected people in Sweden remains unclear. The number of infected by the corona virus is highest in the Stockholm region where about 500 people were diagnosed.

  • New crisis package for companies
    The Swedish government is ready has prepared another crisis package for the companies. A further SEK 125 billion will be offered in loans and loan guarantees, funds that will mainly go to smaller companies. Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson is concerned that the SEK 500 billion that the Central bank, Riksbank lent interest free to commercial banks will not reach through to the companies, as banks may be afraid to pass on the money to companies that have been hit hard by the corona crisis.

  • Volvo Trucks lays off 20,000
    The truck giant Volvo is laying off all personnel, about 20,000 people. It is unclear how long the staff will be laid off. The salary will be reduced by 7.5 percent for workers and with 20 percent for the executive management, the company announced.

  • Volvo Cars stops production
    The passenger car manufacturer Volvo Cars stops all production in Sweden starting next week. Everyone who works in the production is 100 percent affected, CEO Håkan Samuelsson said today. Samuelsson also emphasized that no layoffs were required at this time. Volvo Cars has factories in Olofström, Torslanda and Skövde in Sweden. The factories will close on March 26 and will remain closed until April 14. Volvo's factory in the U.S. will also close. Production in Belgium was stopped earlier.

  • SAS lays off 10,000 employees
    SAS is temporarily laying off 10,000 employees, SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson said at a press conference on March 15. That's 90 percent of the workforce. “For SAS, closed borders and a travel ban means that the demand for airline tickets has disappeared,” he said. In the near future, the business will focus on bringing home stranded passengers in other parts of the world. In the long term, Gustafson hopes that the airline industry can recover, and SAS hopes to avoid permanent layoffs.

  • This year's bargaining postponed
    Swedish employers and the unions have announced that it is pushing the wage bargaining will be postponed.

  • Loss for Swedish tourism
    Almost SEK 8 billion, that’s how much the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce calculates that the Swedish tourist industry's will loose in March alone.