Response to interpellation 2022/23:211 on labor market training
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns labor market training and the government's priorities. L argues that the government focuses on efficiency and quality 1, and that Arbetsförmedlingen should develop its work to increase the number of participants as there is financial room 2. L emphasizes the importance of avoiding waste 1 and that it is important that it pays off to get an education 3 4, where basic education is crucial for reducing unemployment 4. S argues that L is not credible as they have carried out extensive cuts 5 and withdrawn resources from active labor market policy 6 7. S claims that L has cut resources for adult education and vocational training by over 1 billion kronor 5 8. S argues that the government prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest instead of strengthening the position of vulnerable people 9.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me how I intend to ensure that labor market trainings become more numerous and more equal and that they are offered earlier during unemployment. Furthermore, he has asked me if I intend to work towards the educational supply becoming better than it is today to meet the needs of professionals, and if so, how. Finally, he has asked me if I intend to investigate how the procurement of labor market training can be made more efficient to avoid problems with appeals, long lead times, and interruptions when new trainings are to be started.
Sweden is facing a recession, and unemployment is expected to increase ahead. At the same time, many employers have continued to have difficulty finding labor with the right skills, which is not a new problem. Already when the government took office, unemployment was high and the labor shortage was record-breaking in several areas of the labor market. Education is an important part of addressing this.
The regular education system constitutes the backbone when it comes to the training of the workforce. Labor market training is an important complement to regular education and one of many tools for Arbetsförmedlingen to meet employers' competence supply needs. Labor market training shall also facilitate for the individual to obtain or retain a job.
The Government has tasked Arbetsförmedlingen with developing and improving its work with labor market policy interventions and employer contacts (A2022/01638). Part of this is to increase the number of participants in labor market training, which the Government also assesses that there is financial room to do.
Regarding interventions early in the registration period, there will be increased scope for Arbetsförmedlingen to allocate to labor market policy programs outside the framework programs in the coming years compared to 2022. Evaluations show that labor market training contributes to more unemployed people entering employment, and this applies particularly to unemployed people who are far from the labor market. It is Arbetsförmedlingen that assesses and decides who shall be allocated to the intervention.
Everyone who is registered with Arbetsförmedlingen shall be given the conditions to access support and measures on equal terms. Arbetsförmedlingen has a mandate to continue the work with gender equality integration. Arbetsförmedlingen further has internal goals to increase gender equality and equity in the use of measures, including that the proportion of new decisions on labor market training granted to women shall increase. The agency is actively working on the issue, and I will continue to follow this work.
The Government has given Arbetsförmedlingen the goal of prioritizing work with persons who are or risk becoming long-term unemployed in order for these persons to transition to work or education (A2022/01638). There is an opportunity for unemployed persons to study within the regular education system with activity support for up to one year. The opportunity applies to studies at komvux, university or college, yrkeshögskolan, and folkhögskolan. The opportunity to study with activity support was broadened to a larger target group in 2020. More women than men take part in studies with activity support.
Regarding procurement, Arbetsförmedlingen has during 2022 secured a number of agreements on labor market training that the agency assesses will enable an increased number of participants. There are also other parts of this work that are important, including that the lead times between procurement and assignment are not unjustifiably long and that the agency can find suitable participants in an efficient manner. An internal work is ongoing at Arbetsförmedlingen with the aim of streamlining the work with the labor market training. Arbetsförmedlingen is responsible for the procurement of the labor market training, among other things based on needs in the labor market and existing procurement legislation.
On July 1 this year, amendments to the Education Act (2010:800) will enter into force, which among other things concern that the needs of the labor market shall be given significance in the planning and dimensioning of certain programs within upper secondary school and adult education (komvux).
The Government intends to closely monitor Arbetsförmedlingens work with the labor market trainings as well as the broader skills supply, among other things, based on the assignments the agency has.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for the answer to my interpellation. I agree that it is a worrying economic time, and everything indicates that unemployment will increase. I also agree with the Minister's answer that one needs to invest in more education to address this. So far, we can say that we are in agreement.
Madam Speaker! The problem is that what the Minister says and what the Minister does in this context do not align. I have an example from the Liberals' budget motion from 2022 where it states that they say no to, among other things, expanded labor market training. It clearly states that the Liberals reject the large-scale investment being made in labor market training "which risks locking people into education."
The Liberals also want to reduce the investment in labor market training by 829 million kronor for 2024. Therefore, the Minister's answer that he wants to invest in education is not credible. Johan Pehrson has cut the resources for adult education and vocational training by over 1 billion kronor this year compared to last year.
I want to assert that it is counterproductive that the government has removed the funding for extra educational places, not least now in a recession. At the country's folk high schools alone, 3,000 extra places are disappearing, which means that a number of vocation-oriented educations are disappearing for those who are far from the labor market.
During the Socialdemokraternas time in government, we expanded the number of educational places within komvux, yrkeshögskolan, folkhögskolan, and högskolan by over 160,000 places, which was absolutely crucial for strengthening the skills supply throughout the country. But more must absolutely be done.
If one is to analyze and characterize the Swedish labor market at the present time, one can state that it suffers from a mismatch, that is to say an inability to match vacant jobs on one hand with job seekers who have the right competence on the other. Unemployment has remained stuck at a high level while at the same time there is currently a great demand for labor within several sectors.
A clear sign that a mismatch prevails is that three out of ten recruitment attempts today fail, which Svenskt Näringsliv also noted in its recently released report Vrid upp volymen - fler i arbetsmarknadsutbildningar som leder till jobb.
I note that in almost all industries within both the private and public sectors, there are great difficulties in finding the competence that is sought. The Minister refers in his answer to that Arbetsförmedlingen has been given a mandate to develop and improve the work with labor market policy measures. At the same time, the Sverigedemokraterna and Johan Pehrson have pushed through extensive cuts within active labor market policy and fewer resources to Arbetsförmedlingen. The reduction is 1.5 billion kronor.
The cuts have consequences for labor market policy, the individual, society, and the skills supply in Sweden. Therefore, it is not credible that the Minister responds that labor market training is an important complement to regular education. I am asking the questions again because I feel that I did not quite receive answers to them, not least regarding the skills supply but also labor market training.
How does the Minister intend to ensure that labor market training becomes more numerous and is offered earlier during unemployment? Does the Minister intend to work to ensure that the educational supply meets the needs of professionals better than it does today, and if so, how?
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! During the last eight years, as Serkan Köse correctly pointed out, the number of places for adult education has increased by a corresponding 160,000 students, within folkbildningen, adult education, the academy, and the university college. The last four of these eight years, this expansion has occurred together with the Liberals. Part of this has been about the possibility of assigning to studies in the regular education system, which is based on a need for education that the labor market demands - a need that labor market training could also fulfill.
Then it is, for me as primarily an education politician, tragic to hear that the Liberals have not only abandoned the line that the expansion of regular education places for adults shall continue, but furthermore cut back significantly on the labor market training.
This can be summarized with Serkan Köse's figures, which I assume to be correct. I thought Serkan said 829 million in reduced grants for labor market training during next year. Added to that are the folk education cuts of 492 million which are in this year's budget, adult education cuts of 1.25 billion, as well as cuts at the academy of 86 million and at the university college of 104 million. Aggregated, this concerns a hell of a lot of education places. I do not know how many places it could be in the labor market training, but if one adds the other four forms, it concerns roughly 30,000 fewer places in 2023 than in 2022.
Johan Pehrson is still the one responsible. I tried to ask this question in a previous interpellation debate tonight, and I think it deserves to be repeated without for that reason cutting off Serkan Köse's question about labor market training. Johan Pehrson constantly says he wants to invest in education and says that education is the way to a better matching in the labor market. Yet, he acts in the exact opposite direction when he is to do things. When will Johan Pehrson start doing what he says?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Let us begin a little with Serkan Köse's question. It is clear that there is a difference here. The Liberals focus on efficiency and quality. I will admit that I will probably never experience the moment when I stand here or sit in Serkan Köse's place and the Social Democrats in opposition do not have more and more money for places. But we have a very large focus on efficiency and quality.
That is why Arbetsförmedlingen, during the last full year that has passed, 2022, sent back a lot of money. It is also why we now, as we are working on streamlining the procurement of labor market training - there is a mandate there that Arbetsförmedlingen is working on to achieve slightly faster, shorter procurements, perhaps slightly more outside the framework agreement - assess that there are good opportunities to get more labor market trainings than in 2022. It is a way to ensure quality and still increase the volume.
But it is clear that if one just wants a lot of labor market trainings that might end up empty, which can be cancelled and only cost money, it becomes very expensive. I want to remind that every single krona that we invest in Arbetsförmedlingen, in the administrative grant or for all programs, is the citizens' money. Citizens who work and pay tax want quality and efficiency in this. That is surely a central part.
It is clear that the people who today are registered with Arbetsförmedlingen find themselves in a very difficult situation. Many people are in long-term unemployment after the years that have passed and experience the pain of exclusion and the lack of agency over their own lives. It is clear that it is appalling; it must be reduced. But then one must constantly focus on efficiency, quality, a very work-oriented subsidy of employment, and a strong focus—which we still have with nystartsjobb and the upcoming etableringsjobb—on it transitioning into regular employment so that it does not just become a parachute landing in a place that is, in itself, good. We are also investing in internships, which we believe is central.
I am finding it a bit difficult to face this. The previous government returned money. We now have quality. According to all calculations and the forecasts we have from Arbetsförmedlingen, one should now have had more labor market training than before. And I respect that you want even more. I understand that. But we cannot stand here and discuss how Arbetsförmedlingen, under the previous political regime, had to cancel trainings. They were procured and launched, but no one came there. It is a waste of money. So it is a great responsibility to ensure that one has efficiency and quality.
I will return to the question of adult education, where I assert in all seriousness that we must agree that it was a reasonable measure to conclude the initiatives that were ended by the previous government, and which we also confirmed that we ended because the pandemic is over. This does not contradict the fact that the Social Democrats, who are in opposition today, have even more money for even more educational places. But the previous government ended the pandemic initiatives, and we are now adding new money. The question is not whether the Social Democrats have more money – that can be seen in every single table. But where is the quality, and where is the efficiency?
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the debate! Let me begin with the discussion about Arbetsförmedlingen having sent back money. I agree – Arbetsförmedlingen should not send back money, but rather the money should be used for what it is allocated for. But let us establish that one needs to look at why Arbetsförmedlingen sends back money. It could be because they have not spent them on program initiatives. Perhaps they have not paid out as much in unemployment insurance as they had expected. I also want to remind Johan Pehrson that when he sat in government between 2006 and 2014, Arbetsförmedlingen sent back money every year. During the financial crisis in 2008, Arbetsförmedlingen sent back 16 billion. This is, therefore, nothing new. If we are to problematize this discussion, I believe we need to look at the reasons why this occurs.
The Minister speaks about vocational labor market training and that not all places may have been filled. Let us state that labor market training has been the flagship of Swedish labor market policy. Thanks to the relatively short vocational trainings and courses, thousands of unemployed people have been equipped to work as cooks, bus drivers, machine operators, and assistant nurses. And let us look at the evaluations, which show that the trainings have led to lower unemployment, higher employment, and lasting increased labor income.
Arbetsförmedlingen also writes in its annual report for 2022 that the need for labor market training is greater for job seekers who are far from the labor market. When looking at the number of participants, one can also observe that it has decreased during 2022 compared to 2021; this is also stated in Arbetsförmedlingen's annual report.
Connecting to the first discussion on the Liberals' view on expanded labor market training is my question: Does the Minister support what the Liberals have written in their own motion in 2022? Does the Minister consider that the more than 800 million kronor should disappear in the next budget, as it stands in the Liberals' budget motion?
Another important issue in this interpellation debate is that we have structural problems with the labor market training that need to be discussed, which the Minister did not mention much about.
It is about the gender equality perspective. What we see today is that more men than women participate in labor market training. We can also see that most training programs are aimed at traditionally male-dominated occupations. Women, on the other hand, are overrepresented in care professions and in municipal vocational adult education, where education participants pay for it themselves to a greater extent.
In other words, society pays for men's transition to a greater extent than women's. In the Swedish Public Employment Service's annual report, it actually states that they have failed to increase the proportion of women participating in labor market training. They write that 68 percent of those who participate in labor market training are men.
If Arbetsförmedlingen is to succeed in getting more women to apply for labor market training, more resources are required for Arbetsförmedlingen. But instead, Johan Pehrson has chosen to cut the administrative budget for Arbetsförmedlingen. This occurred in 2019, 2021, and now 2023.
Labor market training is a personnel-intensive and very complex effort. I would very much like to hear the Minister problematize a bit more regarding what measures he intends to take to ensure that labor market trainings become more equal.
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister says here that the Social Democrats have other opportunities in opposition than they had in a government position. In that case, I would like to come back and say that we make different priorities than this government does, and therefore we have other opportunities to spend money on education and labor market policy.
I and the minister are probably in agreement that education leads to people's position on the labor market being strengthened. It leads to empowerment. More knowledge leads to better conditions to get ahead in life. I think the minister agrees with me and that is why the minister says that education should be prioritized even if he does not act accordingly.
So we come to the question of how one budgets. Lowering the tax for those who are the richest, which this government has spent 13 billion on, does not strengthen the position of vulnerable people in the labor market. It leaves no empowerment other than that it protects high-income earners' purchasing power.
We have chosen to prioritize these funds in a different way, so that we can strengthen people's position in the labor market, so that people can prepare themselves to move from one job to another, and so that foreign-born women can receive educational initiatives that can strengthen their position in the labor market. But the government prioritizes differently.
Johan Pehrson speaks warmly about efficiency and quality in education and labor market policy. But 13 billion in tax cuts for the richest does not lead to increased efficiency and quality in education and labor market policy, but only to savings and cuts.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! The Social Democrats are known for wanting to raise taxes on labor.
The way to increased efficiency is for more people to feel that it pays off to educate themselves. In that case, the Social Democrats target those who have become head nurses, those who have worked for a long time as teachers, and those who are principals. There, you should raise the tax. Watch out, do not educate yourselves too much, because then you will reach the breaking point and have to pay more tax! The Social Democrats do not deny it.
We have index-linked tax scales. There is a purpose with that. The Social Democrats have often supported it and thought it was good. We have index protection for students' compensations, pensions, social insurance, maternity benefits and many other compensations in order to compensate. In this very difficult inflation economy, we try to do what we can for the most vulnerable, because we have it built into the system. We think it is good.
But we think it is very strange that, as Socialdemokraterna, you have as an argument that one should go after those who are educated and have reached the breakpoint that exists for state tax. You want, therefore, to ensure that they pay more tax. Why are you going after the commissioners and the head nurses? It is completely incomprehensible!
We expect that the transition study support, which we are now investing quite a few billion kronor in - perhaps up to 10 billion - when it is fully expanded, shall mean that 44,000 people can transition and further educate themselves. We have a fantastic arrangement in Sweden where parties such as a strong and healthy business sector act together with responsible trade unions and agree to work for industrial peace, productivity, and real wage increases, but also to take an increased responsibility for lifelong learning in the time of competence needs.
It is amounts of educational places that are now coming. I love it!
It is still the case that the Social Democrats always have more money for universities and places of education where it is unclear what the quality is and what new jobs they lead to. We know that there are specific educations where the needs are greatest.
Serkan Köse says that people need to educate themselves. But if there are problems – if many people do not complete primary school and upper secondary school – then the initiatives we are making now must be carried out. We earmark money to achieve increased throughput and more quality. More students shall succeed.
I agree that the Social Democrats have more money in their municipal initiative, however not as much as the municipalities, the regions, and SKR demand. But you have more money than the government, and that is usually how it is. But we earmark for education, and then it is up to the municipal politicians to very carefully review what they make their priorities on. We invest in the school, because we must ensure that more people have basic education so as not to end up in unemployment. At that point, I haven't even touched upon the need for knowledge in the Swedish language, which it is naturally difficult to manage without when one is going to apply for a job.
We have been tasked to continue the equality initiatives that you want to see from Arbetsförmedlingen and that more women should receive part of the labor market training. We agree on that. We will have to evaluate and see how our requirements are met later when we can evaluate this and can look at the current year. If it turns out that there have been more or fewer labor market trainings than when the Socialdemokrater governed, we can have a discussion about that then. But I understand that you are now saying that you want more.
The money should not be sent back. I agree with that. The money should be used. But for the Liberals, efficiency, quality, and responsibility for the tax money come first.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! As said, this is an important debate. We will continue to have this debate in Sweden's Riksdag. It is a major problem on the Swedish labor market today that we have such a large mismatch. We have high unemployment, but at the same time, we have a large demand for labor.
I mean that labor market training exists so that the unemployed can receive the education needed to regain a foothold in the labor market and so that one can prevent a shortage of specific vocational skills from arising. That is what labor market training is for.
At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that if labor market training is designed in harmony with the changing demands of the labor market, it can help prevent shortages of vocationally trained labor, which we see in the Swedish labor market today. In this way, they can also support structural transformation and economic growth.
I mentioned Svenskt Näringsliv's report earlier. In it, it is actually stated that labor market training constitutes an important piece of the puzzle in the supply of skills to the business sector within various occupations and industries. That goes somewhat against what the Minister of Justice said earlier. Therefore, it is, as said, problematic that the government does not prioritize labor market training but instead withdraws resources from the active labor market policy.
I still want to assert that the dismantling of the labor market training and the reduction in the number of training places benefits no one, neither the unemployed nor the employers, and in particular not society as a whole.
I want to conclude by saying something about the appropriation letter. One can look at the appropriation letter for Arbetsförmedlingen. One can indeed observe that in the previous government's appropriation letter, the Social Democratic government set a clear goal. It was a reporting requirement that the proportion transitioning to regular education should increase, as well as that the number of participants in labor market training should increase, particularly among women. None of this is found in the current government's appropriation letter for 2023.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I also want to thank you for the debate. It is incredibly important that we talk about this. Serkan Köse pointed to the liberal motion from the previous parliamentary term. Yes, but we are critical. We think that very many resources have been used incorrectly.
Madam Speaker! One can see the downward trend when it comes to labor market training, since the Social Democrats took office. One can see how much fewer there have been. Now we see a hope that they can start to increase again. They must increase. But they must increase with quality, and they must increase with efficiency. They are connected.
They have an important role to play. Now we have talked a lot about procurement. I am following very closely what Arbetsförmedlingen is doing so that this will become much closer and much more regional. Then there are also better conditions to reach out, not least to women. There we are in agreement. They have that assignment – that more women should get in there. A true description was given here, that many women otherwise end up within the framework of municipal adult education. There they can get a certain support when they study, but they perhaps have it harder when they are at Arbetsförmedlingen.
But it will differ. I stand for a liberal labor market policy, where I believe it must always pay to work. It must always pay to educate oneself. The Social Democrats will be held accountable when they stand there with tax increases for the people who educate themselves, who take responsibility, and who work extra. Then you want to raise [taxes]. It is not possible to build a society that way. We already perhaps have the world's highest marginal tax. We must do something about it and ensure that it pays to get an education.
Once again: Basic education is crucial. We know that. If Serkan Köse, I, or anyone else in this chamber goes to an employment office, we notice that unemployment among people with a completed upper secondary education is close to zero. This applies regardless of the orientation of the education, regardless of where the people were born, and regardless of gender. One must draw some conclusion from that and, in all cases, invest in the standard basic education.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.