The Nordic region needs more skilled workers. Attracting international talent is only half the challenge – keeping them here is just as hard.
The main challenge with talent attraction is retaining those who come. A significant proportion leave the region within a few years, often due to a lack of integration—such as language barriers, a lack of professional networks, and limited visibility of career opportunities. They also face difficulties in having their foreign qualifications recognized and have weak connections to industry, particularly across Nordic borders.
Two new projects tackle both sides of the problem. The projects that have been launched are called “Work in Nordics—a Nordic Alliance for Talent Attraction” and “Nordic Quantum Talent Attraction and Retention Initiative.”
The first project proposes the creation of a Nordic Talent Attraction Alliance through long-term collaboration to position the Nordic region as a globally attractive destination for highly skilled talent. The second is tailored specifically to PhD graduates in quantum technologies.
Three steps to attract talent
The “Work in Nordics – a Nordic alliance for talent attraction” project is managed by the Swedish company Future Place Leadership and aims to establish the Nordic Talent Attraction Alliance. It is a multilateral collaboration that promotes the Nordic region as a global talent hub by launching a pilot talent attraction initiative in the U.S. market.
It will consist of three key areas. The first is Talent Intelligence, meaning analysis that provides a thorough understanding of the target group, using data. It will typically sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights to identify regions in the U.S. where there is a huge pool of deep tech talent. Data will be collected from other studies on how talent in the target group perceives the Nordic region. Furthermore, key drivers for relocation must be identified, along with data to improve onboarding services during the phase when talent is welcomed.
The second focus area is Talent Attraction. For this area there will be marketing and recruitment campaigns aiming to attract talent and connect them to Nordic employers with recruitment and growth needs. A website will be set up showcasing work and lifestyle opportunities in the Nordics with linking to job boards in Nordic countries. The third and last area is Talent reception, meaning onboarding support to individual employers, and collecting, disseminating and piloting best practices for talent retention and reception activities utilized in the Nordics. Marcus Anderson, CEO for Future Place Leadership, sums it up with "There is a clear gap in that although the Nordic brand offers strong potential in remote markets, no sustainable Nordic platform for talent attraction and retention currently exists. A central idea for the Work in Nordics project is to build such a platform so that the Nordics have greater visibility and stronger brand recognition as a region."
A Nordic career fair for quantum talent
Ariadna Soro, Project leader of NQTalent, and Scientific Coordinator of Nordic Quantum at Nordita, addresses the problem clearly; “The Nordic region has world-class strengths in quantum technology and manages to attract top international talent through academic research and study programs. But retaining this talent after graduation to start and grow local companies is critical. Data shows that a significant portion of quantum PhD graduates leave the region within a few years — a drain we must address to support our local industry and maintain Nordic competitiveness in quantum technology.”
The ‘Nordic Quantum Talent Attraction and Retention Initiative’ is narrower project aimed specifically at talent in the Quantum sector which faces the same challenges as the tech sector in general.
This project, led by Nordic Quantum at Nordita together with key Nordic ecosystem partners, addresses this gap by building a coordinated Nordic approach to quantum talent retention and mobility.
The main focus is the launch of the Nordic Quantum Career Fair. It's a first-of-its-kind event to be held in a different Nordic country every year, gathering hundreds of participants from across the Nordics, including students, researchers, companies, and research institutions. The event will go beyond recruitment by offering structured career guidance, showcasing diverse career paths, and enabling direct interaction between talent and employers across national ecosystems.
In particular, the career fair will include a session where companies share their successful practices for attracting and retaining talent. Those will later be gathered into a compendium of Best Practices and be published online as a set of recommendations for companies and institutions to follow.
To tackle talent retention, the project will also develop a Nordic Quantum Internship and Mobility Platform aimed at undergraduate and graduate students interested in internships and research stays. The platform will centralize and categorize opportunities from companies and academic groups seeking interns across the Nordic Quantum ecosystem. It will also provide practical guidance on mobility regulations, visas, institutional arrangements, and available financial support, helping students navigate opportunities across Nordic borders.
On the other hand, to tackle talent attraction, the project will create a Nordic Quantum Ecosystem Navigator showcasing the different quantum hubs and networks in the region, as well as what it is like to live, study, and work in the Nordics. This resource will be available online and shared among the project partners to distribute at Conferences and events abroad.
Both projects will run through February 2028 and will be summarized in reports for each individual project.
