With the goal of recruiting several thousand colleagues in the coming years, we have an opportunity to build a workforce and culture from the ground up. And diversity, inclusion and belonging are essential pieces of this puzzle, guiding everything from our recruitment process to our daily interactions inside and outside the office. 

“We are not just looking at big picture diversity, but diversity in the teams so that the teams can perform better. This can include more obvious diversity metrics, but also the personalities within a team and how people interact. We look at how the team is composed and what we can add”, says Tess Bojler, principal talent acquisition specialist.  

‘Everyone has different backgrounds and approaches’ 

Hayriye K. is originally from Turkey but recently moved to Stockholm after six years in Italy. As a project manager working on the Boden plant, she is focusing on the steel mill.   

“Work is really challenging, but I love the team. Everyone has very different backgrounds and approaches”, says Hayriye.  

Putting the right teams together can include recruiting new colleagues from places as far away as India and South Africa. For Anu Dhar, lead process engineer for green hydrogen, Stegra was an attractive employer and an opportunity to move from kilowatt-scale green hydrogen to a much larger project.  

When she was recruited in June 2022, Anu was pregnant with her second child, and the company arranged for her to remain in India until she and her family were ready to relocate to Sweden.  

“The overall process has been overwhelmingly smooth and very supported. The favorite part of living in Sweden is the natural beauty and calmness. Everyone works efficiently but you don’t see a sense of hurriedness”, says Anu, who moved with her husband and two children in 2023. 

‘They are making efforts to make us expats feel at home’ 

While diversity is essential for the company’s success, the picture is incomplete without inclusion and belonging, especially for those moving to Sweden from other parts of the world. This is especially true in Boden, the small northern Swedish town where the company is building its first steel plant and where frigid winter temperatures and seasonal darkness can present a challenge for newcomers. 

Janine Theele is originally from Germany but has spent the past decade working in the US steel industry. As senior lead for project planning, she moved from Pittsburgh to Boden and got help from the local municipality to find a place to live and get settled. 

“Working with the guys from Boden Municipality was fun; they are great. They are making efforts to make us expats feel at home fast. The company is also doing things. We had a family bowling event recently." 

‘I learn every day’ 

Christopher Gusek, head of steel technology, moved to Stockholm to work for Stegra after almost three decades in the German steel industry. He says he was surprised the first time he heard about Stegra.   “A lot of people in the industry were skeptical. The funny thing is, over two years, that completely changed. Everyone recognizes that green steel products are both needed and in demand. And it’s so interesting to be part of building a greenfield steel plant”, says Christopher. 

Coming from the more traditional German steel industry, both Janine and Christopher are adapting to the Swedish approach. “Our CEO, Henrik Henriksson, can I really just call him Henrik?” says Janine humorously. “This thing of everyone being on the same level, we do it together, that is definitely different, and I like that.” 

  "Working at a startup I am learning more than ever before. Here we have so many cultures and ways of thinking. I learn every day and I love that,” says Christopher. 

For Hayriye, belonging is all about feeling like you are part of something. 

“Sometimes it’s more chaotic. but I find more freedom here to build the organization as a part of it,” she says.