Response to interpellation 2022/23:257 on matching issues
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns matching issues and skills supply. L argues that skills supply is a central challenge and that Arbetsförmedlingen has sufficient resources for 2023. L advocates for Arbetsförmedlingen to be made more efficient rather than just receiving more money 1 2 3. L wants to raise the requirements for labor immigration to reduce crime in the working life 2 3 and advocates for a balanced proposal on labor immigration for both highly qualified and other shortage occupations 1. S argues that there is a large mismatch between vacant jobs and skills 4. S believes that the government and SD are cutting Arbetsförmedlingen's resources 4 and that Arbetsförmedlingen needs more resources to combat long-term unemployment 5 6. S wants a needs-based labor immigration where the parties are involved 7 6.
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)
Mr. Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me if I intend to work to facilitate the supply of skills, and if so how, as well as if I intend to take any initiatives to ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen contributes to the supply of skills, not least in northern Sweden, in the best possible way, and if so, which initiatives. Serkan Köse has further asked me if I assess that Arbetsförmedlingen has sufficient administrative and program resources to fulfill its mission to provide the new green industries with competent labor and, if that is not the case, if I intend to take any initiatives to rectify this.
The supply of competence is a completely central challenge on the Swedish labor market. We are likely facing a recession, and unemployment is expected to be able to increase ahead. At the same time, many employers have continued to have difficulty finding labor with the right competence.
Arbetsförmedlingen has an important role in this context. This is also reflected in the agency's new instructions, which entered into force in December 2022. In them, a clear mandate is found also linked to skills supply, in addition to other things mentioned in the previous interpellation debate. The Government has also, in Arbetsförmedlingen's regulatory letter for 2023, tasked the agency with developing its work with labor market policy measures and employer contacts in order to contribute to a more efficient skills supply. The mandate includes taking measures to improve the professional and geographical mobility among job seekers. Arbetsförmedlingen shall also develop and improve the work with skills supply at large company establishments and company expansions. As part of the government's efforts to meet skills needs in the labor market, Arbetsförmedlingen has also been tasked in the regulatory letter to, through improved employer contacts and other measures, refer more people to, among other things, labor market training. A continued large number of participants in matching services also contributes to employers' skills supply.
With a clearer labor policy, it will also become more profitable to work, to train for a profession where there is a shortage, and to move to where the jobs are.
I would also like to mention that the government is investing several billion in the coming years in the transition package that the labor market parties have negotiated, which gives many employees the opportunity to retrain and increase their skills in the middle of their careers or in the middle of their lives. The transition package contributes both to strengthening individuals' future position on the labor market and to meeting employers' needs for competence.
The transition in northern Sweden is special due to its size and high speed. Efforts from many different actors are needed to manage the challenge that the supply of skills represents. Arbetsförmedlingen has, in addition to the general work the agency carries out, established an office for transformation and matching in the north with offices in Skellefteå. The office works with both private and public employers to counteract the skills shortage as much as possible. I follow this work with great interest.
So, regarding the question about Arbetsförmedlingen's resources. Arbetsförmedlingen is a large and important agency. Its administrative appropriation amounts to approximately 7.6 billion kronor in 2023. The appropriation for labor market policy programs and measures is estimated to amount to 6.9 billion kronor in 2023. With these resources for 2023, there is room for a continued increase in measures relative to current levels with a focus that meets the challenges that exist in the labor market. This includes, among other things, labor market training and work placements. The Government also proposes in the upcoming spring amendment budget that the agency's appropriation for 2023 be increased by 50 million kronor in order to improve Arbetsförmedlingen's conditions to handle any potential increase in unemployment.
I will closely follow the developments going forward, both regarding the competence supply in general and the Arbetsförmedlingen's role and resources, and am prepared to take further measures if necessary.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
A major challenge in the Swedish labor market is that there is a large mismatch between available jobs and skills, that is to say, we have an imbalance between supply and demand for labor. Despite the fact that Sweden now risks entering a recession, there are many available jobs, and employers all over the country have difficulties recruiting staff with the right skills. In March, 150,000 new available jobs were reported to Arbetsförmedlingen, and at the same time, unemployment is high – just over 340,000 people are registered at Arbetsförmedlingen.
This imbalance, or poorly functioning matching, in the labor market negatively affects unemployment, employment, and not least the supply of skills. Voices are now being raised from municipalities and from the private sector demanding that the policy at the national level recognizes the seriousness and acts. Among others, Teknikföretagen writes that the situation is serious and that the solution to the skills shortage should top the government's to-do list.
We have today, as said, a competence challenge in all of Sweden - but in particular in northern Sweden, where employers are crying out for labor. The municipalities where the needs are greatest are doing everything to become attractive. The trade union Unionen writes in a new report that six out of ten employers in Norrbotten and Västerbotten will, within five years, have their competence supply affected by the large industrial expansion in the region. Of employers who are already affected today, nine out of ten experience that the expansion has made it more difficult for them to retain employees, writes Unionen in its report.
This, as said, places demands on the labor market policy to manage two things simultaneously. On one hand, the supply of skills needs to be strengthened so that companies can expand and compete in a tough global market, and on the other hand, those who are furthest from the labor market need to be equipped so that they can support themselves through work.
Both of these tasks should be manageable by Arbetsförmedlingen, and the good thing is that the result will be best if Arbetsförmedlingen receives sufficient resources. But if one does as SD and the government do, namely cut back on Arbetsförmedlingens resources, the result becomes three times as bad. It will be bad for the employers, bad for the unemployed, and very bad for society.
It may sound troublesome to complain that SD and the government are cutting the administrative grants for Arbetsförmedlingen. But the first blow came in 2019, when the Riksdag voted for the M, KD, and SD budget, which meant a drastic reduction of Arbetsförmedlingen's resources. That budget forced Arbetsförmedlingen to issue a notice to a third of the employees and cut back on labor market policy resources. Since then, the right-wing parties in the Swedish Riksdag have competed to reduce the resources for active labor market policy.
In short: If we are to manage the climate transition and the supply of skills for the large industrial establishments in, among other places, northern Sweden, it requires political decisiveness. The state must set the pace to support the regions and municipalities in the issue of skill supply, which is a challenge for the regions and municipalities to manage individually. The supply of skills, as said, requires a concerted effort.
In view of this, I would like to ask if Minister Johan Pehrson intends to take any concrete measures for a national mobilization regarding the competence challenge we face today – or establish some type of crisis commission, which is particularly requested by the industry.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister and particularly the interpellor Serkan Köse.
Being from Västerbotten can be absolutely fantastic. But it is a bit more than fantastic, because right now there is a blood shortage - a population shortage and a collective competence shortage - in all municipalities in Västerbotten.
Skellefteå, where the green industrial transition started, is now driving the climate transition and the industrial transition in all of Sweden. It is the beginning of what will then come to Norrbotten, where perhaps up to 1,000 billion kronor will be invested. The mapping that Region Västerbotten has conducted shows that 40,000 people are missing for the industry and the public sector, and at least as many are missing in Norrbotten. In that case, a bit more is required.
Coordination within the Government Offices may also be required. The day here in the chamber began with an interpellation debate between Ebba Busch and our party colleague Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro regarding the green industrial transition, where Ebba Busch actually answered that the government will develop a specific strategy for northern Sweden. That is good. I think that it might also concern Johan Pehrson and the Ministry of Employment.
Just as the interpellor Serkan Köse has pointed out, it is indeed a matter of us having high unemployment in parts of the country and a large shortage of people in other parts. In that case, it is matching that is required.
The previous and the current government actually have the same coordinator. I have here a report that has been submitted to the Government Offices, Report from the coordinator for societal transition during large companies' establishments and business expansions in Norrbotten and Västerbotten. It has been presented to the government by Peter Larsson. In the report, there are two large chapters on skills supply, matching, and population supply. I think it is something that Johan Pehrson can also read. There are very many parts in the report that deal with reinforced vocational training and about labor market training.
There is also a part that Arbetsförmedlingen in Skellefteå highlighted when I met them and which they see as a huge concern: When they find staff in other parts of the country who could consider taking a job up there, there are no resources for them to travel up to northern Sweden, stay overnight, and travel back. Those resources are, in fact, too small. They have not been increased for a long time. Right now, we also have a sharp cost increase on both travel and accommodation, which the government is surely well aware of.
There are, therefore, people who can imagine seeking a job - getting a match to a job - in northern Sweden, but then the resources are not there. And it is Johan Pehrson's agency Arbetsförmedlingen that can ensure they are there.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! One must start by congratulating Norrland and Västerbotten on the fantastic turnaround. It is almost like this that Skellefteå is about to turn the match series against Örebro Hockey - until tonight. Just wait and see, we will be back!
Regarding the crisis commission that was requested here, we have had such crisis commissions when jobs have disappeared. The jobs have been cut because there has been short-sighted politics, too high taxes, and an unclear energy policy. Norrland was trembling on election night, and now people are happy that the investments and initiatives continue because it is now known that there will be an energy mix that holds.
We are now fighting enormously hard to get both solar and wind power as well as nuclear power to be able to enable this large transition, because it requires, so to speak, kilowatt-hours to be able to carry this out. It is needed so that one can build the batteries in Skellefteå and make other important investments in the green new industrialization of Norrland, which now has a very pleasant problem. One must remember that this is precisely a pleasant problem!
Then the question is how Arbetsförmedlingen can be able to solve exactly all these problems. I agree on one thing, namely the last thing that Isak From was touching upon. We need to review the support for job-seeking trips. It is clear that it can be calculated; one just has to make sure to do so. There, I have a dialogue with Arbetsförmedlingen to ensure that they come back on this. When a person has the opportunity to build a dream and support themselves, it should not fall on the fact that one cannot get to the location and see how fantastically beautiful it is in, for example, Skellefteå. It should not fall on that.
Basically, it is about the fact that every year – and already now in June – new young people will be leaving school. At that time, they should be young people who come out with passing results and who can start working or pursue further education. We must ensure that we have capable people who enter our engineering programs, because both engineers and bus drivers are needed. Both doctors and preschool staff are required in, for example, Skellefteå, so the basic education system is central.
We also have a debate on labor immigration. Here, the Social Democrats are mostly standing and shouting. I have seen that people shout particularly much at the Sweden Democrats because they are so incredibly liberal - it is still refreshing that one is pursuing that track.
We have a good and balanced proposal in the works. It must, however, be investigated first. According to this proposal, it shall be possible with labor immigration, not least for highly qualified and qualified jobs. Exceptions shall also be possible, which has been important for the Liberals to fight for, so that we shall get opportunities to cover also other shortage occupations and not just those that are seasonal.
We have to come back to this, because it is complicated. One often feels, however, that one has landed in the right place when one gets scolded by the Social Democrats for it being too liberal and gets scolded by someone else for it being too harsh - then one is in a fairly good position, I have a feeling.
Basic education and higher education must deliver. That is why we are making these major investments. That is why we try to ensure that people pass school, so that every year 16,000-17,000 new students do not come to Arbetsförmedlingen with low self-confidence. It doesn't help that there are people at Arbetsförmedlingen if they do not have competence or if they came to Sweden one, five, or ten years ago and do not speak Swedish. What batteries are to be built then, if one is not a specialist? When I have been in Skellefteå, I have seen that people are coming from both China, France, and Canada.
There is an incredible amount that must be added here. Arbetsförmedlingen shall ensure that the jobs that exist are mediated. I agree that we will need to continue to focus on facilitating this fantastic development. The way forward is to ensure that there is also investment in regular adult education; I will come to this in my next contribution.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Johan Pehrson, for the answer!
I mentioned in my previous post that the technology companies say that one should take the situation seriously and that the government's to-do list should be topped by finding the solution to the skills shortage that we are debating. When I heard the Minister's answer, I perceived, however, that the Minister does not realize that this is an important issue for all of Sweden, that it is serious and that one must take the situation most seriously and come up with concrete solutions.
The Minister claimed in his response, among other things, that educational initiatives are being made, but the person who looks at the budget sees that the government, together with the Sweden Democrats, is cutting back on educational initiatives - 1 billion is being removed from educational opportunities and 1.5 billion from labor market policy measures. The question is how this fits together.
Therefore, I intend to stay with the resources for Arbetsförmedlingen. I think this is important. The Minister has also, in a previous debate, referred to Arbetsförmedlingen.
It is precisely with the administrative appropriation that Arbetsförmedlingen can hire people who can work on equipping the unemployed and strengthening the skills supply. Therefore, I think it is a bit bold of the Minister to say that one is increasing the resources to Arbetsförmedlingen by 50 million kronor when, in reality, one is heading towards a reduction. Johan Pehrson reduced Arbetsförmedlingen's appropriation from 7.8 billion in 2022 to 7.6 billion in 2023, which meant a reduction of 200 million kronor. It is thus still a minus, even though Johan Pehrson is making a big deal out of the fact that one has allocated 50 million kronor more to Arbetsförmedlingen.
The requirement for the authority to adapt to a reduced administrative appropriation remains in the coming years. Already next year, Johan Pehrson will reduce Arbetsförmedlingen's appropriation by an additional 400 million kronor.
In the budget proposal from Arbetsförmedlingen that I hope the Minister has taken note of, Arbetsförmedlingen wrote that the proposed appropriations will affect long-term unemployment negatively and that increased resources are required in order to fulfill their mandate. Overall, Arbetsförmedlingen assesses in its budget proposal to the government that they need approximately 9 billion kronor for next year if they are to fulfill their mandate and additionally manage everything that Johan Pehrson has placed on the agency. This is significantly more than Johan Pehrson's 7.6 billion today.
In the latest issue of the newspaper Publikt, we could read that the management of Arbetsförmedlingen has issued information to managers and employees stating that the agency must become more restrained in recruitment to manage the transition to a lower administrative grant for next year. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister if he still considers that Arbetsförmedlingen has sufficient resources to both manage the skills supply, which is being discussed today, combat high unemployment, and manage increased unemployment now that we are heading into a recession, as everything indicates.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I view positively what the Minister said about that one could imagine reviewing the support for business travel. We believe this is very important. We might even receive news about it in the spring budget; that would be most welcome.
I believe that it is such efforts that we need. We need to move away from the culture war that the Moderaterna and Sverigedemokraterna have waged against northern Sweden. The Moderaterna from the Stockholm region question the entire green industrial transition, while the Sverigedemokraterna oppose all forms of wind power altogether.
We really do not want this to have to be discussed. We Social Democrats are happy to discuss a sustainable labor migration, but then it must be based on the parties in the labor market reaching an agreement through a labor market assessment – which people were needed, and what specific skills need to come to Sweden? These people shall have reasonable conditions, collective agreements, the right to full-time work, and so on.
Let us discuss this - then it is entirely possible.
At the same time, we have all the more than 300,000 unemployed in other parts of the country who would like to get into work. Those who followed Ekot's reporting during the Easter weekend could hear that the wood and furniture companies and the small house manufacturers announced that they probably have to lay off up to 2,000 workers in Småland and Central Sweden. They probably also want an opportunity for transition and a new job. They also want to get into work and earn their living. The government and Arbetsförmedlingen can actually help with this.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! It is difficult to read the political situation. It is easy to see that the Social Democrats always want more money for Arbetsförmedlingen, or AMS, as it was called before. There is no limit to what this agency can do.
But we also know what it looks like. Most people who are registered at Arbetsförmedlingen are people who speak very weak Swedish and have deficient education.
The best labor market policy is to ensure that people do not end up there. Those who are graduating from ninth grade now largely started first grade when the previous Social Democratic government took office. Those youths in Örebro, Skellefteå or Södertälje who do not pass face a very difficult future. Therefore, the investment in basic education is completely central.
When a pandemic ends, one removes the measures that were linked to it. That is why we have now gone through this. We have looked at vocational adult education and the university college and have presented a larger investment of 8,350 places to further strengthen the already high levels that Sweden is at regarding adult education and to rectify the errors that have grown over so many years. Many people must be equipped and matched, either with actors or with Arbetsförmedlingen itself, in order to become employable. We ensure that better conditions are created to obtain an education.
Let me also mention the transition support we have put in place. Here, we are investing an additional billions. One can say that we are taking a portion of the money that is available and investing in this system, because it creates good conditions. A small house manufacturer can retrain and take one of these jobs if the economy changes, because it is about people who are highly productive.
The best thing, of course, is if we can heal it. I receive warning figures every day where I see how serious the situation is. But it has not become as serious yet as we thought before Christmas. Therefore, we should be careful and do everything we can so that Swedish companies can continue to manage to fight and retain the competence they have and avoid laying off people who would then have to receive transition support due to a lack of work or otherwise participate in training.
When it comes to labor migration, the Social Democrats have a completely different view. They do not want it to be on the scale that it currently is. Otherwise, they would not be putting spokes in the wheels. We are in complete agreement that the labor crime that has emerged over the last eight years must be combated, and here we maintain the important measures that eventually came from the previous government: labor crime center, secrecy-hacking, and reinforced agency coordination.
So, regarding Arbetsförmedlingen. Yes, Serkan Köse, that's how it is. We are in different parties. You believe in large systems and that public employment agencies are the solution. It is an important service function for struggling citizens, but the labor market fares best with functioning basic education and adult education and that there are jobs to apply for. We will get nowhere on that path. We took over in the budget that the previous government submitted, and there it was also clear that it was to be quality and efficiency.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! I asked a number of questions to Minister Johan Pehrson and can state that I have not received any real answers to them.
My first question concerned a national mobilization for the serious skills challenge we have on the Swedish labor market. My second question concerned whether the Minister still considers that Arbetsförmedlingen has sufficient resources to meet this skills challenge and unemployment, not least long-term unemployment.
Let us return to these questions, for they are still important questions that we need to handle.
The Minister raised the issue of education. On one hand, the Minister highlights the importance of continuing to invest in educational initiatives. On the other hand, the government is cutting the budget for education because they believe it was a structural measure during the pandemic that is no longer needed. It is strange when we are heading into a recession, because then more resources were needed for labor market training and educational initiatives.
When it comes to labor migration, my colleague Isak From was clear that we Social Democrats want it to be needs-based, meaning that the parties in the labor market should be involved in the discussion. We see what unregulated labor migration has for consequences, not least what the Minister was touching upon, namely crimes in the working life. We want, as said, that labor migration should be needs-based and that the parties should be an important part of this.
The question of matching in the Swedish labor market is important. It is interesting how we are to solve the skill supply for the industries emerging in northern Sweden and how we are to get more people to want to move north. But neither the government nor the Sweden Democrats seem to care about this because they are cutting back on labor market measures and housing construction. They do not even have a vision for the climate policy.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the debate. It is eternal, just like the dividing line. I stand for a liberal, conservative labor market policy that focuses on basic education, adult education, and a labor market that shall continue to move Sweden higher up the value chain.
When it comes to labor immigration, we are removing today's low level that we have lived with for many years with 13,000 as the median wage and looking at 30,000-32,000. At that level, there will be less labor crime. Everyone makes that assessment.
The Social Democrats will always have one policy when they are in power and another when they are not in power, and then money shall be poured into Arbetsförmedlingen.
I think it is important that the more than 10,000 employees at Arbetsförmedlingen have good conditions, but they must be given a chance to transition after eight tough years. We do not need to argue about whose fault it was. The Social Democrats always claim it is someone else's fault - even when they have been in power, which is absolutely fantastic.
Now the staff must be given a chance, also to work with their competence mix. They must be skilled, socially engaged, and professional people with specialized competence who help people and question why they have not learned the language in one, two, three, five, or ten years or have not completed a basic education that makes them employable.
Arbetsförmedlingen must absolutely improve its cooperation with the municipalities, because now people are falling between the cracks. I see it, and my first step is therefore to establish a contact and an agreement with each municipality to resolve the task.
I am listening to the management of Arbetsförmedlingen all the time, but the solution is not always more money. One must be able to get more out of more than 10,000 capable employees than what is achieved today. This is what those who work at Arbetsförmedlingen themselves want, for they are rightly proud people.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.