The combination of Naveena Inavolu and Opalen bakery is a concrete result of Boden municipality’s job matching service.
“It has changed my life and I am very grateful, it feels so, so good”, says Naveena.
When Naveena left India to join her husband’s new job at Stegra in Boden, along with the family’s two sons, she had a clear plan. She wanted to learn Swedish and get a job. Today, she beams as brightly as the Norrbotten sun as she talks about making Swedish sandwich cakes as a kitchen assistant at the renowned Opalen bakery in Boden.
The path here has gone through SFI, Swedish for Immigrants, the work-integrated social enterprise Yalla for women from around the world, and finally the job matching service that Boden municipality has built up. Boden municipality’s job matching service is a win-win solution for all parties. At its core is a candidate database with over 2,000 people who want to move to and work in Boden. They are matched against companies that submit their recruitment needs.
Job Matcher
The system is complemented by a physical person, job matcher Hanna Müller from ByHart, who offers support through all or parts of the recruitment process and becomes the link between companies and candidates.
“There’s high pressure on Boden right now and I’m in contact with many in the system who are on their way here, but also accompanying family members who are already in place here in Boden. There’s great interest in applying for jobs here and this is an excellent way to make visible the jobs that exist. My role is to work with companies to find the right match based on job specifications and CVs all the way to actual recruitment”, explains Hanna Müller.
Valuable Help
Opalen is one of an increasing number of companies that have realized the advantages of job matching.
“Hiring new staff takes a lot of time and there are many applications to go through. Now Hanna presented six-seven alternatives and we got some references who had already met Naveena. They said hire her! Then we called Naveena and got a great impression”, says Mikael Kraus, Opalen.
International
It’s not just out on the streets in Boden that it’s international. Even in the kitchen and bakery at Opalen there are already several nationalities. The father of today’s owners, brothers Mikael and Krister Kraus, came from Germany himself and built up what later became a family business. Today, two additional nationalities work here, besides Naveena.
Growing with Boden
Opalen recently celebrated its 60th anniversary and also received the award as Center Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 at the Boden Business Awards.
The Kraus brothers work for a vibrant downtown commerce where different businesses benefit all industries. They view the immigration and development taking place very positively.
“We now have 15 full-time employees plus about the same number of part-time. People from all over the world come to us with Stegra’s staff, and their operations spill over a lot into catering, among other things”, says Mikael.
Boden Ambassador
Naveena has found her place in Boden and explains how the various steps she’s been guided through have helped prepare her for the job market and life here.
At Yalla, it was she and her friend Sailaja who provided Indian food at the inauguration of the new cooperative. This in turn led to the opportunity to have an Indian popup restaurant in collaboration with Kårbacken’s restaurant and events. At Yalla, international food was served regularly, and even though Naveena is fully skilled in Indian cooking, the basics of running food service in Sweden were very valuable for the job she has today. She still practices Swedish but learns more every day. Together with her family and best friends who came at the same time, she has become a natural ambassador for the newcomers.
“We are 17-18 Indian families here in Boden now. Now we take the new ones who come and show them all the good things we got to see when we came here. Last winter we went skiing with the children in Pagla and Storklinten four times a week. I love Boden and winter. I usually tell the newcomers that the cold is no problem, just put on good clothes and go out, don’t stay home”, says Naveena.
And adds that they came primarily to live here during the construction of Stegra, but now they feel that this is where they want to be.
“There’s positive energy and good people here, we have good jobs and the children are happy. We want to stay here in Boden”.
