Thousands of jobs vanished as AI moves in

The overgrown industrial site outside Timrå was meant to become the foundation of a new green economy. Instead, it may soon be dominated by a Google data center.

Sundsvall and Timrå joined forces to build a huge industrial park beside the E4. The promise was up to 4,000 new jobs, inspired by Northvolt’s plans for Swedish battery factories and Stegra’s fossil-free steel project.

The green industrial dream has now crashed. More than half a billion kronor has gone into the project, leaving the municipalities facing a costly bill and a very different future from the one they planned.

AI companies are rushing in to fill the gap. Their arrival could offer the municipalities a way to salvage the investment, but it also changes the central question. Instead of thousands of factory jobs, what kind of employment will the new data centers actually provide?

For Timrå politician David Forslund, the deal may look attractive in the short term while carrying a far darker long-term risk. “A good deal for the municipality, a catastrophe in the long term,” he says.

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A good deal for the municipality, a catastrophe in the long term.