A Daycare Question on Scania’s Factory Floor Opened a Conversation Across Borders

Advantage Austria reached out because of the network Women in Tech Sweden have built for women in tech and business. The delegation wanted to hear how it came together and how we work, and they were curious about the cultural differences between Austria and Sweden when it comes to entrepreneurship and women in the workforce. And as Scania has been a strong partner of Women in Tech Sweden since 2017, the day was a perfect match.

The programme began with Niklas Sperle, Vice President Process & Digitalisation at Scania Commercial. He gave an overview of Scania from its founding in 1891 to where the company stands today, and spoke about digitalisation, innovation and new ways of working. Elin Eriksson then presented Women in Tech Sweden, along with entrepreneurship and the funding of female founders in Sweden. The delegation was especially interested in how Women in Tech Sweden was started by companies in 2014, and in how strongly Swedish businesses value women working in tech.

Then came the tour of the production lines where Scania assembles engines for its vehicles. The precision of the work, the skill of the technicians and the exact pace of the factory made a strong impression. One detail stood out: at Scania, stopping the production line to flag an error is celebrated. An error found early on the line is faster and far cheaper to fix than one discovered after the engine has been built into a truck.

The most important conversation of the day began with a question on the factory floor. The Austrian women asked whether Scania offers daycare for employees’ children, which is more common in Austria to make sure that the women working can manage their days. That led to a discussion of how childcare and parental leave differ between our two countries. Municipal childcare has been a norm in Sweden since the 1970s, but is not taken for granted in Austria. Without a daycare system behind you, getting back to working after becoming a parent is harder, and starting your own company is a much tougher journey. 

“It takes stamina and courage to break the norms, while you also keep pushing for your vision and business ideas. And these entrepreneurs were not backing down.”, says Elin Eriksson

The day ended with lunch, where the delegation met even more Swedish entrepreneurs and women in business.

We are grateful to Advantage Austria and Scania for the invitation, and to the delegation for their questions. Elin Eriksson sums up her main takeaway: “What stayed with me the most was how quickly the conversation moved to what matters when everyone in the room shares an entrepreneurial, problem-solving spirit and a wish to create new solutions. It is important to have conversations across borders and between countries, because the things we take for granted can be something completely different elsewhere. We can really benefit from looking at what we do on each side. There are always things to learn, everywhere.”