The municipality's health and care needs up to 1,200 substitutes this summer.
Half of which are brand new.
But so far it has proved difficult to attract them.
- We are facing major challenges with fewer applicants than in previous years, says Margareta Marmdahl, head of staffing center at the social services office in Skellefteå.
Fierce competition for labor
Big warning ahead of the pandemic summer 2020 meant that all of a sudden there were plenty of people who wanted to work in healthcare.
Now it has turned completely.
With an unemployment rate that belongs to one of the lowest in the whole country.
- We are now in a situation where other industries are competing for the applicants.
Here it's a bit of a Klondike, says Margareta Marmdahl.
Considering bonus
Other municipalities such as Umeå are trying to solve the summer with, for example, bonuses for staff who work extra.
Skellefteå does not yet have any bonus plans, but it may be relevant, says the Social Welfare Committee's chairman Iosif Karambotis.
- We are looking at all possible proposals that will enable us to manage the staffing this summer, he says.
The municipality has decided to offer all temporary care assistants in home care and care and nursing homes, who have worked long enough to be covered by the Employment Protection Act (LAS), to be offered permanent employment.
There is also a campaign in Skellefteå where anyone who advises a friend to start working in health and care can get a reward.