(Bloomberg) -- Hitachi Energy is hiring workers from Northvolt AB as the cash-strapped battery maker lays off about 1,600 people at its sites in Sweden.
The maker of transformers, electricity network equipment and other hardware for the energy industry is seeing surging demand for its products as the electrification of the economy requires fast ramp ups of both networks and generation assets.
It plans to hire 1,500 people by 2027, mainly engineers, production and assembly staff, Tobias Hansson, who heads up Swedish activities, said in an interview. That would take the number at his unit to about 8,000 by then.
“It’s natural that we are reaching out to Northvolt as we need to grow and they are cutting back,” Hansson said.
Northvolt, on the other hand, has struggled to ramp up production at its main plant, encountering quality problems just as demand for its products is flagging. That’s constricted revenue and led to a cash crunch, leading Northvolt to roll back some of its plans and eliminate 20% of its global workforce.
The maker of electric vehicle batteries is negotiating with its investors, lenders and customers in a bid to secure a rescue package of about $300 million that would help to stabilize production and line up longer-term financing.
Hitachi Energy doesn’t hold a stake in Northvolt, but previous owner ABB Ltd. was one of its earliest investors with a small minority stake. Still, it has supplied electricity infrastructure to the battery maker.
The company was rebranded when ABB sold its power grids division to Hitachi Ltd. It dates back to the late 19th century.
Hitachi participated in an Oct. 10 recruitment fair that Northvolt held in Vasteras, where both firms have activities, and will attend another one this Friday in Skelleftea, where Northvolt’s main plant is based. Former employees have a fast-track lane into his company’s recruitment system, Hansson said.
Some former Northvolt employees have already joined Hitachi Energy, he said. The firm currently has 700 vacancies in various stages.
“We’ve already had several hundred applications from Northvolt so it’s been a really good match,” he said.
Hansson also said that Hitachi Energy is using a similar recruitment strategy to hire staff from Telia Co AB, the Swedish mobile operator, which last month announced that it will shed 3,000 positions, or about 15% of its overall workforce.
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