Engineering – the most common profession in Gothenburg

These are some of the findings of our latest report Sysselsättning i fokus 2023, which analyses employment in the Gothenburg region. The report is based on official data from Statistics Sweden (SCB).

During the period 2007-2021, employment in the region rose 23 per cent, with 104,000 jobs created. A key driver has been the services sector, in particular within private business services, which accounted for 40,000 of the new jobs. 

“Gothenburg’s importance as an innovation driver and industrial centre for Sweden has increased in line with the export industry’s strong development during the past decade,” says Peter Warda, senior analyst at Business Region Göteborg, and author of the report. 

The number of classic industry jobs hasn’t increased. Rather they have shrunk in all sub-sectors of industry, except within automotive. Instead demand within advanced and specialized positions has grown strongly, not least within natural sciences, IT and technology.

“Knowledge-intensive services, which includes consultants within technology, IT and finance, has increased by 63 per cent since 2007. And these jobs are often created in the city centre,” explains Peter Warda. 

“The strong growth within knowledge-intensive services is primarily due to the advanced industrial base in our region, which not only requires traditional industrial workers but also a significant amount of tech expertise,” he adds.

A region with strong science and engineering capabilities

Every fifth person in the City of Gothenburg now works within knowledge-intensive services, which has become the largest sector and employs almost as many people as commerce and industry combined.

The report also shows that engineering is the most common profession in the city, followed by IT architects/system developers.

In addition, the proportion of people with a background in natural sciences and technology in Gothenburg is more than 50 per cent higher than in Stockholm, and twice as much as in Malmö.

“Gothenburg is a region with very strong science and engineering capabilities. This is a key reason why it is an attractive location for R&D activities and investments within, for example, automotive and mobility, life science, tech and urban development,” says Marcus Scoliège, head of foreign direct investments at Business Region Göteborg.

Access the full report (in Swedish): Sysselsättning i fokus 2023

Access Facts & Figures 2023/24 - a comprehensive compilation of facts and statistics on Gothenburg's business environment 

Read more

• Hotspot for innovation
• R&D