Graduation for SCA-s first group of forest machine operators

After 22 intensive weeks of both theoretical and practical work, it was finally time for graduation on January 10th for the first batch of trainees who completed SCA's forest machine operator training. The group was celebrated with a lunch and diploma ceremony at Hallstaberget in Sollefteå.

“We have successfully created a very good training program where we included all the planned educational modules,” says Björn Eriksson of SCA, one of those responsible for the training.

Marcus Dahlstedt is one of the participants and he will now work as a forwarder driver in SCA's own fellingteam in Sundsvall.

“I am very satisfied with the training! It has been very enjoyable and a good mix of theory and practical elements in the forest. I used to work at Valmet but I like being in the forest, and for me, the training was an opportunity to switch careers. That the training was paid was crucial for being able to change professions. The setup that you are matched with an employer early in the training is very good. I did my internship with the Sundsvall team and now it feels completely natural to step in on a real basis,” says Marcus.

Willingness to learn and develop

The first training session was located in Sollefteå and out of over 210 applicants, four women and eight men were selected. Almost all are now moving on to jobs as forest machine operators, both with SCA and SCA-contractors.

“Changed conditions at a contractor have unfortunately affected the employment for one of the participants, but we are hopeful that it will be resolved soon. The goal of the training was that everyone would work with one of our skilled contractors or in SCA's own forest machine teams when the training was complete,” says Magnus Eriksson, head of Operational Development Production, who is responsible for the training.

“I want to thank all our trainees for their great commitment and their willingness to learn and develop. I also want to highlight the significant work done by several of SCA employees before and during the forestry machine operator training,” says Björn, adding:

“The evaluations we have conducted show that the participants give us good marks regarding the training as a whole. Naturally, there are things we will change and adjust for the next training session, but overall I am very happy with the training we have just concluded”.

Inspiring for the future

On February 24, 2025, the second training session begins. It will be held in Hussborg, Ånge municipality, and has also attracted many applicants for the 12 spots.

“We look forward to meeting the next batch of forestry machine operators. A significant difference in the second training session is that it will be winter when the training starts, which means we need to make some adjustments to the schedule to make the various educational modules as good as possible,” says Björn.

For Marcus, full-time forest machine operation awaits.

“I look forward to beautiful days in the forest and being able to manage my workday myself. I enjoy working alone. The plan is to keep working like this for a while, and then we'll see what happens. Running my own business is a vision, but there are many other exciting jobs within SCA as well. We gained good insight into that through the training and all the different professional roles that contributed their knowledge to our education. It is inspiring for the future!”