Priya(31)

I was born in Amsterdam to Indian parents and studied aerospace engineering at TU Delft. After four years at a defense company in The Hague, I received an offer from Saab Aeronautics in Linköping — the company behind the Gripen fighter jets. The combination of cutting-edge technology and Swedish working conditions was irresistible.

Linköping isn't a city you know, but it's a hidden gem. With 165,000 inhabitants it's big enough for everything, but small enough to be anywhere in twenty minutes. Saab is the largest employer and attracts engineers from around the world. There's a thriving expat community, mainly around the university and Saab.

Registration at Skatteverket and obtaining my personnummer took five weeks. Saab has its own relocation service that arranges everything: from the first appointment at Skatteverket to finding housing. I rent a three-room apartment in Ryd for 8,500 SEK per month — spacious and modern. The bostadskö in Linköping is much shorter than in Stockholm: two to three years.

The Swedish tax system felt high at first — I pay about thirty percent kommunalskatt plus possible statlig skatt above a certain income. But you get a lot in return: healthcare, education, infrastructure, and the feeling that the system works. Försäkringskassan arranges everything from sick pay to dental insurance.

As a woman of color in the Swedish defense industry, I had mixed expectations. The reality surprised me positively. Saab actively invests in diversity and inclusion. My team counts twelve nationalities. Swedish work culture is egalitarian — my opinion is taken seriously, regardless of my background or age. That's refreshing after the subtler hierarchy in Dutch companies.

My social life revolves around the expat community and my sports club. I play badminton at a local klubb — sports are incredibly cheap in Sweden thanks to government subsidies. Through the SFI course I learned Swedish, and after a year I speak it well enough for daily use. Linköping isn't glamorous, but it's honest, calm and offers a quality of life I didn't have in Amsterdam.