Response to interpellation 2022/23:363 on reduced resources for the Public Employment Service
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns reduced resources for Arbetsförmedlingen. L argues that there is room for efficiencies and that the agency itself shall assess the use of resources following instructions 1. L believes that more employees do not necessarily increase efficiency 2 and that a new unemployment insurance is required 2. L argues that the government is taking a comprehensive approach by prioritizing important agencies 1. S argues that the cuts lead to staff reductions, increased workload, and poorer accessibility 3. S believes that the resources are insufficient and that the agency needs more physical presence 4. S argues that the added funds are in fact a redistribution 3 5 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)
Madam Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me if I have consulted with Arbetsförmedlingen regarding the consequences of the resource cuts. He has also asked what measures are being considered or have been discussed to mitigate the negative effects on the agency's ability to offer adequate support and opportunities for employment for the unemployed, especially those who have been without work for a longer period.
In order for the labor market policy activities to function well, Arbetsförmedlingen and the measures that the agency has at its disposal need to be effective. The Government assesses that there is room for efficiencies in the labor market policy.
The estimated reduction of Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative resources between 2023 and 2024 was stated in both the budget bill for 2023 and the budget bill for 2022. That the administrative appropriation is expected to decrease is therefore nothing new.
The Ministry of Employment has an ongoing dialogue with the authority and has, among other things, followed up on how the authority intends to adapt its operations to the estimated funds in the budget bill for 2023.
Now signs are appearing that the situation on the labor market is beginning to cool down. Both the number of layoffs and the number of bankruptcies have been higher in recent months, and unemployment is expected to increase in 2023 and 2024. In accordance with the Riksdag's decision on the budget amendment, Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grant is reinforced with 50 million kronor to be able to meet the increased unemployment.
The need for funds for the coming years is being reviewed within the framework of the work on the budget bill for 2024. The Government is closely following the development of unemployment.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Johan Pehrson for the answer.
When Johan Pehrson took office as Minister for Employment, he said in an interview with the online newspaper Altinget on October 20 that he would do everything to make Arbetsförmedlingen a top-class agency. After just over eight months with Johan Pehrson at the helm, we unfortunately see that Arbetsförmedlingen is far from top-class. Rather, we see a sinking ship.
Madam Speaker! The Right has long questioned and criticized the active labor market policy and the state agency Arbetsförmedlingen. Already before the 2018 election, the right-wing parties, including the Sverigedemokraterna, pushed to abolish Arbetsförmedlingen in its current form. As part of this strategy, significant changes were implemented within the labor market policy in 2019, not least when the Riksdag adopted the M-KD-SD budget at the end of 2018, which led to a reduction of over 3 billion kronor of the funds to Arbetsförmedlingen and the labor market policy measures.
These cuts resulted in staff layoffs and the closure of several offices, which affected the accessibility and proximity to Arbetsförmedlingen's services for many people. Unfortunately, the cuts have continued. The Riksdag voted in November 2021 for a joint M-KD-SD budget for the year 2022, where further cuts were implemented within labor market policy. This included a reduction of funds for new labor market trainings and the removal of, among other things, extra services. During this period, Arbetsförmedlingen has also been responsible for managing the effects of the pandemic, which has led to increased unemployment and record-high layoff numbers.
Despite these challenges, Arbetsförmedlingen has received less money for 2023 and must now save 700 million kronor due to the government's cuts. Johan Pehrson countered by adding 50 million kronor to the agency in the autumn budget, but it turned out to be a redistribution of existing money - not any new funds.
In May, all 320 decision-makers at Arbetsförmedlingen were notified of termination, which means that the role will disappear as of January 1, 2024. This will lead to an increased workload for those who are to take over their work tasks.
Recently, it has also been announced that 90 newly trained employment officers will lose their jobs due to cuts. These individuals have undergone internal training for months and will now not be able to work at the agency. This is a waste of taxpayers' money and deficient planning, which means lost time for the individuals concerned. In addition to these, 100 consultants will be laid off as part of the austerity package.
Madam Speaker! In summary, many employees within Arbetsförmedlingen experience an unsustainable working situation with a high workload and stress, which also affects the unemployed who are seeking help. The queues to reach the agency are already long, and it is difficult to imagine how the situation will worsen after these cuts. Unemployment and the number of long-term unemployed are expected to increase, which reinforces the need for sufficient resources for Arbetsförmedlingen to handle the skills shortage and, not least, the worsened labor market situation.
With all this as background, I want to ask the Minister the following questions. What concrete measures and efforts are being considered to mitigate the negative effects of the cuts at Arbetsförmedlingen? How does the Minister intend to handle the increasing workload and stress levels among the employees at Arbetsförmedlingen as a result of the cuts? I know that the Minister has spoken about the 10,000 fantastic employees at Arbetsförmedlingen, and therefore I want an answer on how the Minister views the increased workload. What measures will be taken to ensure that the service and accessibility for the unemployed seeking help from the agency are not negatively affected by these cuts?
Teresa Carvalho (S)
Madam Speaker! Recently, statistics on the labor market situation were released, which joyfully show that the Swedish labor market is still doing well. It shows that the offensive management of the pandemic to save Swedish jobs and the active labor market policy we pursued thereafter have yielded results.
Unfortunately, we are heading into a recession, and even the government itself assesses that unemployment will increase. Already this spring, we have seen clear clouds of concern in the form of increased layoffs and more people registering as job seekers and fewer moving forward to jobs from Arbetsförmedling's efforts.
When this year began, as has been evident from the previous debate, the government implemented large cuts to the active labor market policy amounting to billions of kronor. When the autumn budget was presented, the government announced that 50 million kronor would be added to Arbetsförmedlingen to meet the expected rising unemployment.
What first appeared to be an insufficient but still positive announcement turned out, however, to be a pure redistribution between different grants to Arbetsförmedlingen. It was thus not a single new krona for the collective active labor market policy.
But not only that – what the Minister for Employment just called a resource reinforcement has instead become an additional saving. Right at this moment, Arbetsförmedlingen, just as my colleague Serkan Köse just explained, is implementing austerity measures to prepare for the even larger cuts that the government has signaled for next year. Therefore, I would like to ask a couple of questions to the Minister for Employment.
What does the government actually have for a plan and preparedness to ensure that a shockwave is not translated into increased unemployment? Such a plan is incredibly important for household economies in the situation we are currently in. Unfortunately, the government has put the labor market policy on a starvation diet at the same time as we enter a recession, so it does not bode well. I still want to know what plan and preparedness exist for this scenario becoming a reality.
I also wonder when the minister was informed that the government's so-called investment in Arbetsförmedlingen will instead become a saving during the current year. Above all, I want to know how the government intends to act now in light of Arbetsförmedlingen's announcement that there will be staff reductions instead of additional resources. The 50 million that the government announced in the autumn budget were justified by the need for staff reinforcements, but now that is not happening. Instead, it becomes another austerity package. What is the government's response to that? How does the government choose to act in this situation?
Jim Svensk Larm (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Member Serkan Köse for the opportunity to debate this issue.
Arbetsförmedlingen is an important party in getting more people into work. With a toolbox consisting of many tools, Arbetsförmedlingen can adapt the support according to the need of the individual seeking a job. We know that a breadth of different interventions is needed to get people into work, but a breadth of different competencies is also needed at Arbetsförmedlingen so that one can determine which intervention is needed for which person.
The government that Minister for Employment Johan Pehrson represents has reduced the appropriations for labor market policy measures and the administrative appropriation for Arbetsförmedlingen. Member Serkan Köse asked the Minister what measures are planned to provide the right support and opportunities for the unemployed, especially for those who have been without work for a longer period. In the Minister's response, there was pretty much nothing that was even an attempt to answer the question. I think, Madam Speaker, that it is quite telling for this government. Not even when the Minister is given a couple of weeks to think it over do any answers emerge on how we are to get more people into work, especially not when it concerns those who are far from the labor market.
The government has been without ideas on how more people should get into work since it took office, yet they still like to speak of their so-called work line. That line, however, is not about providing support for work but about making it even harder for people who are already struggling. That is not how we get more people into work. An active labor market policy would be needed where Arbetsförmedlingen receives more resources to meet a heavy time on the labor market.
Madam Speaker! I would like to speak a little about how we are to get more people with disabilities into work. In an interpellation debate on April 11, I debated with the Minister about precisely how we are to get more people with disabilities into work. In that debate, the Minister, among other things, presented SIUS as an important activity. As I mentioned in that debate, SIUS is an important part of getting those who are far from work into work.
Arbetsförmedlingen itself has highlighted just this as a successful piece of work, but it has also been said that more resources are needed to continue with it. Therefore, I am concerned about how this group will be able to receive help and support when Arbetsförmedlingen now continues to issue strike actions, as this is a personnel-intensive method.
Recently, we received reports on how Arbetsförmedlingen should primarily use outsourced activities for work training. This sparked some reactions, particularly from Famna, which is the national organization for values-based welfare. Their concern is that people who are long-term unemployed receive incorrect interventions.
The Minister responded to a written question from Member Serkan Köse that it may be the job seeker's needs that should guide, but does this really add up? My concern is that the number of tools for Arbetsförmedlingen is reduced when this decision is made.
I would like to give the Minister another opportunity to answer the questions in the interpellation. What measures are being considered or have been discussed to mitigate the negative effects on the agencies' ability to offer the right support and opportunities for employment for the unemployed, especially regarding those who are far from the labor market?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the interpellation and the other participants for the questions and the strong commitment.
One manages an agency through consistency and long-term perspective. One manages an agency by establishing a budget that specifies how it should look not only next year but also in the coming years. From this budget, it has become clearly evident that Arbetsförmedlingen will have very many billions to use.
We use instructions and regulatory letters to explain what we want to see more of. We may want to see more of controls or labor market training. We may want to see more of labor market training that is negotiated a bit more locally in cooperation with the business sector and based on the needs that exist in the locality.
One manages with all of this. These are the tools one has towards the authorities. It is very difficult for Members of Parliament, government representatives, or ministers to go to Arbetsförmedlingen and speak about exactly how they should act. The authorities have this mandate and this responsibility.
Our opinion, which has been presented both in the budget bill for the current year and in the year-end budget, is that there are great opportunities for streamlining here. A government must take a collective grip. The agencies that are absolutely crucial for the Arbetsförmedlingen to be able to function at all, we must be able to let grow. Previously, the question of crime fighting was up. An economic crime authority that is well-equipped with resources is of course important to tackle any schemes involving serious crime that also attack the welfare systems, for example those that fall within the framework of entrepreneurship or nystartsjobb.
It is important that all of this is in place, and then one cannot pull all the levers as far as one wants. That is not what we have done either, but we have signaled how the budget should look. Then we follow the situation closely. There may come larger or smaller changes, and it is possible to move between different appropriations. I want to remind that this has happened historically.
It was also mentioned that the Social Democrats previously had a different budget but lost. It is regrettable that this country has been governed in a way that has resulted in a lack of a unified grip. When it comes to questions regarding the underlying motives for wanting to stay in power despite the fact that someone else's budget has been passed, someone other than I will have to answer.
We have an underlying strength. The billions we are now investing meet a reality where, at this hour, there are perhaps 200,000 vacant jobs that we must ensure people come to. Then, one must use the labor market trainings that exist, the various subsidized measures that exist, and the measures that are made to help people with disabilities. There are structural things to change here to make it easier and better. However, it lies with Arbetsförmedlingen itself to assess how the collective resources shall be used, following instructions and regulatory letters. There is no other.
I am glad that members of Parliament are thinking so hard - and sometimes very well, I want to emphasize - to arrive at exactly how it should be done. I cannot do this in my role as Minister for Employment, but I can give the instructions. Please feel free to say which instructions you want to see!
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Johan Pehrson is doing a classic Johan Pehrson: speaking for four minutes without answering the questions.
When the Minister speaks of efficiency in this context, it is in reality about cuts – cuts at a time when more resources were needed for active labor market policy. The Minister speaks of investments, but in the budget, 1.5 billion has been cut from labor market policy measures. It is not an investment. The funding for labor market policy programs and administrative appropriations has been reduced. But it is important to give Arbetsförmedlingen the resources, conditions, and tools the agency needs to do a good job.
I believe that the government's cuts in appropriations, programs, and measures cannot be called an active labor market policy. This is particularly problematic when households, companies, and society as a whole face difficult times. It is especially problematic for the unemployed, who need a more active labor market policy with more resources. Many experts warn that the economic slowdown with reduced GDP will be long-lasting. We therefore need a labor market policy that is active and adapted to meet these challenges and, above all, for the people who are in need of it.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Arbetsförmedlingen's new forecast shows that unemployment is expected to increase this year. Cuts at Arbetsförmedlingen will constitute a significant obstacle to increasing employment, especially for those who have been unemployed for a longer period. In Arbetsförmedlingen's budget basis to the government, it is noted that more resources are needed to be able to do a better job. Fewer will be able to take part in support measures, which will prolong the period of unemployment.
Madam Speaker! Let us state that Arbetsförmedlingen is the state agency responsible for active labor market policy throughout the country. In order to better meet the needs of individual job seekers, Arbetsförmedlingen should have greater room for maneuver to offer individually tailored measures leading towards permanent employment. I believe that the government should give Arbetsförmedlingen these conditions, not least regarding physical presence, which I consider crucial for people with different needs to receive the support they need to enter employment. Presence is also important to maintain purposeful employer contact and cooperation, not least with the municipalities. The Social Democrats therefore believe that the government should ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen is represented throughout the country.
I experience that the Minister is not taking these challenges seriously. I therefore demand clearer answers and a more concrete description of which specific measures and efficiencies the Minister intends to implement to handle the situation. It is not enough with general statements about room for efficiencies, which the Minister repeatedly returns to. We need to receive an answer regarding concrete and clear plans to ensure that the labor market policy works effectively and that those who need support actually receive it. We have gathered here because we believe these are important issues that engage us, and I expect clearer answers.
Can the Minister provide a more detailed account of how these cuts at Arbetsförmedlingen will be managed to avoid them becoming an obstacle to increasing employment and complicating the situation for those who have been unemployed for a longer period? The Minister can also be a bit more concrete regarding how he intends to handle the challenges at the agency, where the staff is currently very stressed. What is the Minister's answer to everyone listening to this?
Teresa Carvalho (S)
Madam Speaker! At the end of his previous speech, the Minister for Employment asked which concrete instructions we Social Democrats lack in the labor market policy. Let me mention one thing: I miss the wording that the Social Democrats had in the regulatory letter to Arbetsförmedlingen regarding increased transition to work among foreign-born women. The Minister for Employment has erased it in the regulatory letter.
In the response to Serkan Köse's interpellation, or rather in the response to my question in the previous interpellation debate regarding the labor market measures, the Minister for Employment and Labour refers to the fact that Arbetsförmedlingen's personnel resources are being reinforced with 50 million kronor so that it can meet an increased unemployment.
I have said it before and I say it again: I think it is remarkable that the Minister continues to call this a reinforcement when it is in fact a reduction. To first reduce hundreds of millions of kronor and then inject 50 million kronor, which furthermore turns out to be a redistribution and not any new money, is by definition not a reinforcement. We have, on the contrary, received report after report from Arbetsförmedlingen regarding warnings and layoffs. It results in reduced resources compared to last year, thus a cut, in plain Swedish. I think it is somewhat incomprehensible that the Minister for Employment continues to call it a reinforcement, which he does in the answers here today.
Johan Pehrson is welcome to answer, nod or shake his head, as he told me before, or see it as a rhetorical question: Where is the actual limit for what one can call an investment?
Jim Svensk Larm (S)
Madam Speaker! Many times I have heard the Minister praise the approximately 11,000 employees of Arbetsförmedlingen and the work they perform. But I wonder if the employees of Arbetsförmedlingen really feel appreciated when they are told time and again that it can be made even more efficient.
Just as my colleagues have said, the government's eagerness to cut back on Arbetsförmedlingen now results in 90 jobs being terminated. It concerns people who have educated themselves and have just completed their education, but now their knowledge is not to be used but instead thrown away.
At the same time, the Minister speaks about the government strengthening Arbetsförmedlingen so that it can meet the unemployment that is coming. But the Minister does not mention that the money will not be used and that resources are being taken from other measures.
Like much else in the government's policy, this does not add up.
In the government's response, concrete proposals are still missing for how more people should receive the right support, especially those who are far from the labor market. Is it the case that the Minister for Employment has already capitulated on the labor market area and lacks ideas for how more people should get into work? Just now, it sounded in the Minister for Employment's post as if he cannot sit and think so hard that it creaks. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why a labor market policy council has been established. He needs to get ideas from someone.
The purpose of the council is to gather a group of labor market experts who shall provide tips and advice to the Minister for Employment regarding how to solve the problems surrounding long-term unemployment. That the Minister ignores including the labor market parties in the council is noteworthy because they are precisely labor market experts.
I want to give the Minister a final chance to concretely explain how those who are far from the labor market will receive the right support and enter employment when Arbetsförmedlingen continues to issue strike notices.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! We are debating an incredibly important agency, Arbetsförmedlingen. During the past eight years, it has been subjected to quite large changes, and I have promised that in close cooperation and dialogue with Arbetsförmedlingen, we shall see what is possible to do.
But the liberal, bourgeois government with the coalition partner, which has a majority in the Riksdag and for its budget, is also clear that more areas must be covered. A good labor market policy is that more people complete primary school, and this is something we must tackle if, in the long run, one does not just want to continue to pour in new young people who are far from the labor market and cannot support themselves and gain the freedom that comes with a first job, which sometimes one has to fight very hard for. It is also an important clarification that people have a great personal responsibility.
But how the authority - Arbetsförmedlingen or whichever authority it may be - treats the budget is very important. It is a decisive steering document. This cannot come as a shock to anyone in the Riksdag or at Arbetsförmedlingen, as the budget has been fixed and is a steering document.
We believe that when many other agencies are growing significantly, one must also be prepared to be able to restructure the Arbetsförmedlingen and achieve more efficiency, especially when we have a period behind us where unemployment has decreased. We are prepared for the difficult situation, and then we can act.
I naturally agree with those who say that an investment of 50 million in the supplementary budget is not decisive. It is a way to handle a situation where we have a dialogue with Arbetsförmedlingen. I cannot comment on the resources we intend to allocate, but the line for 2024 is fixed and has been well known to the agency and the agency's board, which bears responsibility for this together with the management. We will now have a dialogue with them, and we will come with a proposal to adjust this for 2024. This we will all be able to debate with great intensity and joy during the autumn.
But we will never escape the fact that this is largely about education outside of Arbetsförmedlingen. I mentioned it in the previous interpellation. It is about Swedish for immigrants – we know that the language is the biggest obstacle to the person even being able to enter a labor market training program. There are resources there, even though we believe they will be able to grow this year. We know that the shortcomings of the youth school, as I have said, are crucial. We know that the risk is that we have tens of thousands of people, and many children with them, who get stuck in what is designated as phase 0, that is to say that one lives on social assistance over time and without requirements for counter-performance when we have drivers that stand between which compensations one can receive and when the taxes on that first job are such that people will not work. All of that is the basis for the labor market policy.
I am quite certain that during the hopefully many years I have left to live, and during the years that the interpellator and the other debaters have left to live, which I also hope are many, we will never experience the Social Democrats having fewer economic appropriations for Arbetsförmedlingen than a liberal bourgeois government. I believe that is completely unlikely. Because we are talking here about the heart of creation.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for a non-answer. One can observe that the Minister does not answer the questions. The Minister continues to talk about cuts. The Minister talks about 2024 and what is already known, namely that 400 million is to be removed. One has also withdrawn 1 billion from adult education.
Madam Speaker! During the debate, it has clearly emerged that the Minister lacks ambitions and concrete political reforms to meet the needs of the unemployed, especially for those who are far from the labor market.
This is worrying and risks creating a gap for the long-term unemployed. It is therefore important that the government takes concrete measures to strengthen Arbetsförmedlingen and ensure that the agency has sufficient resources to offer individualized support to the unemployed, especially now when Arbetsförmedlingen is struggling with a high workload and stress among the employees.
It is also important to ensure a well-represented Arbetsförmedling across the entire country and a close cooperation with the municipalities.
In conclusion, it is of the utmost importance that we take these issues seriously and work to create a labor market policy that gives all people the opportunity to enter employment and contribute to society. Everyone who can work shall work.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the alarms coming from inside Arbetsförmedlingen and the negative consequences that the cuts can entail, both for the unemployed and for the employees at the agency.
In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the Minister for the debate and wish the Minister and his staff a pleasant summer holiday when it eventually occurs. I also thank Madam Speaker and the committee secretariat and wish you a pleasant summer when it eventually occurs.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I really want to reciprocate that thought! And I also want to remind Serkan Köse and everyone else that the time for interpellations will soon be starting again. It is a shorter break we have for Sweden's members of parliament. Just like the government, the members of parliament are constantly in service and active and deliberately want to improve what can function better. And here we can have different opinions.
We must summarize this. Those who debate during this interpellation debate and previously say that they have more resources. It is clear that this then leads to more employees. But does it lead to efficiency? Does it lead to these resources being able to be used somewhere else? It says nothing about the fact that skilled employees actually should not do a good job.
We are talking about reforms. We must lift up an important part here that we have missed, I think, in the active, effective, ambitious labor market policy, namely that the right person should have the right unemployment insurance at the right time. This requires a new unemployment insurance.
We have now raised the ceilings. We have permanently set them at a level that was introduced during the pandemic. I think that is good. But the unemployment insurance (a-kassan) is for that situation where there are no jobs to apply for. The unemployment insurance is an important transition insurance. It is not for people not to work when there are jobs.
That is why we have signaled and are moving forward with demands and saying that it should not be too "easy" to be unemployed. By that, we mean that more people must apply for jobs outside of their previous professional field and with increased geographical spread. I know that there is support for this among the Socialdemokraterna. But a more modern unemployment insurance, I hope we will discuss during the autumn as well, and there I would like to see the Socialdemokraterna show their cards and join in.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.