ANE’s survey, conducted in December 2024, revealed a substantial gap in AI preparedness across Nordic STEM workplaces, particularly regarding policy implementation and workforce training. While 59% of professionals use AI tools, only 23% report having comprehensive AI guidelines at work, and a mere 8% feel adequately trained in AI skills. This mismatch between technology adoption and governance infrastructure creates potential risks for both organisations and workers.
What is Needed?
Addressing the majority of Nordic STEM professionals who report inadequate AI training requires coordinated action across educational institutions, employers, and government agencies. Effective upskilling must encompass both technical competencies and ethical reasoning capabilities, enabling professionals to implement AI solutions responsibly. The significant gap between current capabilities and future requirements necessitates substantial investment in accessible, high-quality training programmes.
The lack of comprehensive AI guidelines in Nordic workplaces represents a critical governance vulnerability. To remedy this, organisations must develop clear protocols addressing data privacy, algorithmic transparency, accountability mechanisms, and impact assessment procedures. These frameworks should balance innovation enablement with responsible use principles, incorporating regular ethical reviews and stakeholder feedback processes to ensure continuous improvement.
The Role of Unions in AI Adoption
At ANE, we foster collaboration among engineering trade unions, representing over 500,000 engineers across the Nordic countries. We believe unions can effectively advocate for worker protections in AI adoption through strategic collective bargaining, legislative engagement, and international cooperation. According to the 2024 UNI Europa survey, 42% of unions now include AI-related terms in agreements, with 20% having dedicated AI clauses.
Union negotiations around AI implementation typically focus on several key dimensions:
- Transparency: Requiring employers to disclose how AI systems monitor workers or make employment decisions.
- Human Oversight: Ensuring algorithmic decisions (e.g., promotions, dismissals) can be reviewed and challenged by workers.
- Upskilling: Securing employer-funded training programmes to help workers adapt to AI-driven workflows.
The AI Continent Action Plan and a Nordic-Baltic AI Center
The European Commission has just unveiled the AI Continent Action Plan, an ambitious strategy aimed at positioning Europe as a leader in the field of AI. We are pleased to note that a key focus of this plan is the enhancement of AI capabilities through targeted investment in skills development across the continent. However, it remains to be seen how the strategy will ensure effective collaboration between educational institutions and industry stakeholders to address specific AI skill demands. Additionally, we await details on the mechanisms that will support the continuous upskilling and reskilling of the current workforce in AI-related fields.
The establishment of the Nordic Centre for Responsible AI is another significant step towards regional coordination. In 2024, Nordic Innovation’s Ethical AI Expert Group, with contributions from ANE, developed five key recommendations. One of these was the creation of a Nordic-Baltic AI Centre. This foundation has now evolved into a Centre aimed at supporting ethical AI development, providing public policy support, building data infrastructure, developing AI competencies, and enhancing transparency around AI sustainability.
ANE warmly welcomes this initiative, hoping it will offer substantial support to start-ups and scale-ups across the Nordics. The Centre is expected to provide financial funding and resources to foster innovation, facilitate partnerships throughout the region, and establish a robust data infrastructure that businesses can leverage for AI research and development.
Moving Forward
ANE hosted a workshop in Helsinki in April 2025, bringing together experts from our member organisations to discuss the impact of AI and algorithmic management on STEM professionals. Our discussions focused on how unions can ensure workers’ interests are represented in AI development and deployment. In light of the rapid development and disruptive nature of AI, building awareness and knowledge among members, negotiators of collective agreements, and employers is essential.
We are continuing our discussions from the workshop and aim to involve stakeholders from the Nordic-Baltic AI Centre in these important conversations too. Our goal is to contribute to recommendations for the Nordic region and the EU.