According to local media P4 Västerbotten, Carlsson is on-site in Skellefteå and is set to meet staff at an unexpected meeting during the day. He is expected to talk to media after lunch.

Chief safety representative at the IF Metall union, Mikael Stenmark, told public broadcaster SVT that the topic of the meeting could be about anything, ranging from information about a new investor to an entire shutdown of the factory.

“We’ve heard there will be a meeting at 1pm where we’ll be given some information,” he told SVT. “I don’t know any more than that.”

A source told local newspaper Norran that the meeting is not a new development, rather it had already been scheduled in advance, and that it is about an “important update”.

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The company warned earlier in September that it may have to lay off staff and close parts of its factory in Skellefteå to cope with economic challenges, although it has not yet given details on the amount of staff who 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.