When Scania needed more IT developers, they came to Experis Academy and Noroff Accelerate. In three months, 12 employees from different parts of Scania, were reskilled into IT developers at the Swedish vehicle manufacturer.
- The result of the program was fantastic. It shows that it is possible to change someone’s career direction completely in just 12 weeks. It's quite incredible, says Mikael Pihlblad, Senior Manager in IT for R&D at Scania.
The Swedish manufacturer of trucks, buses, and engines has 53,000 employees worldwide, and in a good year, they produce approximately 100,000 trucks. The headquarters are in Södertälje, just over half an hour's drive outside Stockholm.
Like many other companies, Scania is in the midst of a digital transformation. Scania has great ambitions when it comes to technological development and sustainability, two things that are closely linked. With the help of new technology, production is made more efficient, and the CO2 emissions from the vehicles are reduced. Scania aims to reduce CO2 emissions from their products by 20 percent within 2025. Scania also aims to achieve a 50 percent CO2 reduction in its industrial and commercial operations (2015-2025). To succeed, data and software development are crucial.
As are employees with the right skills.
- The most crucial improvement factor in Scania today is software and data, both in the vehicles and in the processes around them, says Staffan Vildelin, director of shared IT at Scania.
Vildelin says the future transport system contains autonomous, self-driving vehicles, where software and data are key to making it work.
- On this journey, we need skilled people. IT skills are not easy to recruit, and that is why reskilling is key.
Article continues after the video.
RESKILLING SCANIA from Noroff on Vimeo.
Unique program
To get more frontend developers, Scania chose to start a reskilling program based on the boot camp concept. They wanted to give employees from other parts of the organization an intense training period to reskill them into IT developers.
- We didn’t know if it would work, but we decided to give it a try. We invited experts and managers from developer organizations to define what skills and attitudes a front-end developer needed, and based on that, we set the goals for the reskill program, says Mikael Pihlblad.
- We contacted several providers of education and chose Experis Academy and Noroff because they had experience with this kind of accelerated learning, says Pihlblad.
They received 160 applications from employees throughout Scania and selected 12 highly motivated candidates. During twelve weeks, they went through an accelerated learning program, a so-called boot camp. After 12 weeks, all 12 of them joined IT teams in Scania and started new careers as IT developers.
- The result was fantastic. The participants in the program came from all parts of the company, from production, engine assembly, purchasing, yes everywhere, and now everyone works as IT developers, says Pihlblad.
Mikael Pihlblad, Senior Manager in IT for R&D in Scania, believe reskilling will be key to recruit IT-skills in the future.
New reskill program in 2022
The program worked so well that a new program is already planned, starting in early 2022. This time the focus is on backend technologies.
- Again, we are doing it together with Experis Academy and Noroff Accelerate. The teacher from Noroff was fantastic and the results from the first program were very good. If it works just as well this time, I believe we will run this program every year going forward, says Pihlblad.
- We want more ways to recruit IT developers, and reskilling is a good way of doing that. It allows us to get new perspectives and different types of people into the IT organization. It's also a great way to find motivated people. If they manage this in just 12 weeks, there is no limit to what they can achieve. They can reach the stars, Pihlblad adds.
Alexander Wasberg was one of the participants in the program. He previously worked as an engine assembler in the factory, but now thrives as a front-end developer in Scania IT.
Read about his learning journey and what advice he has for others here.
Photo: Scania
Rewarding collaboration
Head of Noroff Accelerate, Erlend Koppen Skar, is very happy that the partnership with Experis Academy gave Noroff the opportunity to collaborate with Scania.
- For us, it is a very meaningful collaboration where we see that we contribute to solving a real challenge at Scania, and in society. It is also great to help give people new opportunities, says Koppen Skar.
He describes the collaboration as a win-win-win project.
- Scania is very pleased with getting new IT developers, the participants get the opportunity to grow and start a new career, and we get to work with a large and exciting company, which is incredibly educational.
Read more: Reskill and upskill your workforce
Erlend Koppen Skar, head of Noroff Accelerate.
Koppen Skar says that gaining insight into the challenges Scania faces and how they see the future, is valuable when developing relevant educational programs.
- It is exciting to work with them to map out what skills they will need, and how we can help them acquire those skills, says Koppen Skar.
He believes that the competence and relevant industry experience the Accelerate lecturers possess are key to the successful reskilling program.
- Our programs are built on learning principles that are aimed at adults. It is all about providing people with the tools and skills they need to succeed at work. It is not about tests and assignments, says Koppen Skar.
- Our teachers all have relevant industry experience, and they know what challenges you face in a developer environment. We create a learning journey focused on the skills needed to fill a developer role.
