Storyteller #8 is a man, working above ground, a white collar. This story is about the role of contractors.
– I’d say that the majority of the jobs (done by contractors) are done by local companies. If you look at international companies, they have a relatively small share, particularly if you compare with geographical areas that are closer to the rest of Europe. It’s pretty far up to Kiruna or Malmberget, which means that we don’t have the same global market. So, the majority is made up of local companies, then there’s a small, small share of international companies.
– Could you say that many of them… used to be employed by the Company, or? Maybe you don’t track this…
– Yes, but it’s both, it’s both companies that have always worked here, they’ve always had their own companies. Before we used to have more functions in-house but during a period now we’ve outsourced and during that time, maybe it was more that you said to those skilled people, that ‘couldn’t you start this company’…
– Okay, so we could hire you?
– Yes, it was probably a bit like that. […]
– I’m thinking, that much I’ve understood, that there’s a very strong faith in the Company, that it carries Kiruna in a way. Does that mentality exist among the contractors, that it is the Company that should fix it, that should pay the bill? Do you understand what I mean? It’s a kind of patron mentality. If something happens, the Company will come in and fix it.
– Yes, that’s the case. It (the Company) is a very important customer to a lot of contractors, that’s how it is. From history you also know that when times are worse, it’s the contractors that go first. You protect the own staff over everything else.