Lund launches Sweden's first cross-border talent welcome day
Southern Sweden has hosted its first dedicated welcome day for foreign workers, a pilot project aiming to plug skills gaps in the region's life science and tech sectors by treating the Öresund strait as a single labour market.
Lund municipality has hosted Sweden’s first International Citizen Day, an event designed to attract and retain skilled foreign workers in the country's south. The May 29th gathering brought together over 200 international professionals and 29 exhibiting organisations.
The initiative leaves Sweden playing catch-up with its Nordic neighbours. Finland launched a similar event in Helsinki last year, while Norway followed suit in Oslo this year.
The pilot was organised by the Cross-border Talent Bridge, a three-year project funded by the EU’s Interreg programme that runs until August 2027. Its specific economic target is to draw highly qualified workers into the life science and technology sectors across the Greater Copenhagen region. The project is led by Lund municipality and Copenhagen Capacity, alongside partners including Ideon Science Park and Medicon Village.
Rather than viewing nearby cities as rivals, Lund's municipal government treats the wider region as a single economic zone. "International workers don't think about which city they're going to, they think more about which region they want to come and and live and work in, so we we're always sharing and trying to make something good for us all together," said Martina Åkerlund, the project's communications manager.
That cooperative approach reflects the reality of the local labour market. Suzanne Samuels, a global communications professional based in Sweden for 30 years, noted that drawing people to the Swedish side of the strait requires acknowledging the dominance of the Danish capital. "What I thought was great about International Citizen Day was how they combined it with the folks in Copenhagen, so they brought both sides of the Strait together, which is really important because there are so many more jobs over there," she said.
Local economic actors are already seeing the value of the network. Sally Russell, who runs Helsingborg International Connections, a non-profit linking foreign jobseekers with local employers, reported strong interest from students and professionals looking for work in the city.
The future of the event beyond its pilot phase, however, remains uncertain. A repeat is likely in 2027 before the Interreg funding expires. Åkerlund indicated the project will spend its final year developing a strategy to ensure the welcome initiatives can survive without EU money, leaving it to local stakeholders to decide if they will finance future editions.
