The defence company Saab opened an office in Karlstad at the beginning of January. The office will house the development department of the business area Dynamics. They have an extensive recruitment effort ahead. In the long term, they aim to hire 200 people.
- We aim to recruit approximately 40 new employees during 2023. A few of these will come from our other offices, but the majority will be new recruits, says Frans Eriksson, who is himself newly appointed as the site manager.
The premises are being adapted, and in the same building, the Saab-owned technology consulting company Combitech is located. In addition to the recruitment work, the office has a strong focus on building a reliable and good infrastructure around routines and culture. The recruited staff should thrive.
- My task is to prioritise that we do the right things. It is, of course, demanding to expand, and the most important thing is that the people recruited come in and want to stay for a long time. We want to be a proactive organisation with a focus on job satisfaction. There are exciting challenges here for those who want to work with truly advanced technology and contribute to a safer society, says Frans Eriksson.
Frans Eriksson has a background as a professional officer in the Swedish Armed Forces and at BAE Systems Bofors. As an officer, he worked, among other things, with material and method development in explosive ordnance disposal at the Swedish Armed Forces' Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Demining Centre - Swedec in Eksjö, as well as a staff officer in Mali. Nowadays, Frans Eriksson serves part-time as a reserve officer at Swedec. When the offer for the site manager position reached him, it was easy to say yes.
- The opportunity to open an office with a development focus was appealing. That it is also in my hometown is a nice bonus, says Frans Eriksson.
Before deciding to open in Karlstad, Saab explored opportunities in other locations. The proximity to Karlstad University and the defence industry-dense Karlskoga, including the Bofors test centre, weighed heavily.
- In addition to the proximity to the university and Karlskoga, it suited us well that Karlstad has a strong industrial tradition, even if it has not quite been a centre for the type of product development that Saab conducts. Overall, there are therefore good opportunities for our development operations to complement the existing industry here, concludes Frans Eriksson.