The redundancies include 1,000 positions in Skellefteå, 400 in Västerås and 200 in Stockholm, the company said in a press release. That amounts to 24.6 percent of the company’s workforce.

“While overall momentum for electrification remains strong, we need to make sure that we take the right actions at the right time in response to headwinds in the automotive market, and wider industrial climate,” Carlsson said.

“We now need to focus all energy and investments into our core business. Success in the ramp-up of production at Northvolt Ett is critical for delivering to our customers and enabling sustainable business operations. Recent production records at Northvolt Ett show that we are on the right path, but the decisions we’re taking today, however tough, are required for Northvolt’s future.”

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The company added that it will help employees with finding new jobs, as well as relocation assistance.

For employees on work permits, the company will establish a “taskforce together with external partners” to help those directly affected, as well as their families.

“The decisions announced today are both challenging and painful. I and all my colleagues at Northvolt will do everything we can to support the colleagues who will eventually leave the company,” Carlsson said.

The company warned earlier in September that it would have to lay off staff and close parts of its factory in Skellefteå to cope with economic challenges, although it had until now not given details on how many may be affected.

Last week, an undisclosed number of migrant workers were let go before the formal round of layoffs has even started.

Northvolt is the latest in a series of Swedish tech giants to struggle with the economic pressure of the past few years. Swedish telecoms equipment company Ericsson said earlier this year it was cutting 8.6 percent of its Swedish workforce.

In early August, the Swedish Labour Ministry announced that the country was facing its highest unemployment rate in a decade, excluding the pandemic period.

Do you work at Northvolt? Here are a few articles you may find useful:

• Five things you need to do right away if you’re getting laid off in Sweden