Response to interpellation 2023/24:393 on cuts at 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
1 L believes that Arbetsförmedlingen must become more efficient and focus on its core activities 1. 2 L believes that education is the foundation and that investments are being made in vocational training to meet the skills shortage 2. 3 L believes that the Swedish language and basic education are the way to employment 3. 3 L has given assignments for more labor market trainings that should be more locally anchored and have a closer cooperation with local businesses 3. 3 L wants more women to receive labor market training and that Arbetsförmedlingen should become better at helping people with functional variations 3. L believes that the focus must be on education to meet the skills shortage. 4 S believes that there is a deep crisis in the labor market with increasing unemployment and bankruptcies 4. 4 5 S believes that the government and SD have reduced resources for active labor market policy and that Arbetsförmedlingen needs more resources 4 5.
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 and the government intend to take any measures to support Arbetsförmedlingen in its efforts to maintain a high level of service and efficiency despite the current and future budget cuts. Furthermore, he has asked me how I and the government intend to ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen's staff reductions do not affect the agency's ability to offer support and service to the unemployed and employers.
Labor market policy needs to be designed so that more people enter employment and so that it becomes more cost-effective. Both Arbetsförmedlingen and the measures that the agency has at its disposal need to be effective. The agency's administrative resources need to be used more effectively in relation to its mandate when it comes to, among other things, the assessment and planning of support and measures for job seekers, monitoring the unemployed's job-seeking activity, and support in recruitment work. Cost-effective measures that are close to the workplace and that contribute to high job-seeking activity and transitions to regular employment should be prioritized.
The situation on the labor market has deteriorated, and unemployment is expected to increase during 2024. Therefore, Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative appropriation has been reinforced by 200 million kronor during 2024 to meet an increased unemployment and strengthen the agency's control work. Additionally, the investments in more locations within the university colleges and the vocational adult education are expected to improve access to such education so that more can quickly enter employment.
The Government assumes that the agency adapts its operations in a responsible and long-term sustainable manner according to the funds decided by the Riksdag. Arbetsförmedlingen needs to become more efficient and have a clear focus on its core activities.
The Government has tasked Statskontoret with analyzing and assessing the effectiveness of Arbetsförmedlingen's use of administrative means. Analyses and assessments shall take as their starting point how the use of administrative means supports the agency's tasks and mandate and have a particular focus on the agency's work with job seekers and employers.
We are closely following the developments in the labor market and the work of Arbetsförmedlingen.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
The Swedish labor market faces major challenges today. We have an economic crisis that has led to increased unemployment. Several male-dominated industries are particularly affected, not least the construction industry, which has caused the number of registered unemployed to increase more among men than among women, according to Arbetsförmedlingen.
Mr. Speaker! At the end of January, more than 356,000 people were registered as unemployed, which is an increase of nearly 15,000 people compared to a year ago. The difference between unemployed women and unemployed men has become larger. The number of registered unemployed women increased by about 2,000 to nearly 169,000, while the number of unemployed men increased by approximately 13,000 to more than 187,000.
The increase in unemployment coincides with the increase in the number of bankruptcies that we see today. In January, the number of bankruptcies increased by as much as 45 percent compared to the same period the previous year. According to monthly statistics from the credit reporting companies, 16,000 companies risk going bankrupt during 2024, Mr. Speaker, particularly within the construction sector and the restaurant business. These are industries that are now struggling very hard for their survival as households tighten their belts even further.
Mr. Speaker! Briefly: We have today a deep crisis on the Swedish labor market that requires immediate and powerful attention from the government and Johan Pehrson, but the government and Johan Pehrson do not seem to see the crisis. They are not acting and are not coming forward with proposals on how the situation should be improved. Within the construction industry, warnings are issued that we are heading towards a new 90s crisis. At that time, 20,000 construction workers left the industry and never returned.
The government's response to this crisis seems to be insufficient. Despite claims of increased appropriations to Arbetsförmedlingen and to labor market and education policy, it can be stated, Mr. Speaker, that the appropriations for active labor market policy and adult education have decreased.
The government and the Sweden Democrats have reduced the resources for active labor market policy by over 2 billion kronor. Today, the government invests barely 7 billion kronor on programs and measures. This can be compared with 2018, when there was an economic boom and the government at that time invested 13 billion kronor.
These cuts to Arbetsförmedlingen's resources at a time when Arbetsförmedlingen needs more resources to help people who become unemployed are completely incomprehensible. It is alarming, Mr. Speaker, that we now, when the labor market is in a deep crisis, have a government that is unable to manage the crisis. Recently, Arbetsförmedlingen announced that there is a risk of staff cuts as a consequence of the government's budget decisions. This is the reason for my interpellation.
Mr. Speaker! How can we meet the challenges of the future, ensure housing construction, and support economic growth and stability without a strong employment service? For every worker who loses their job, there is a family that is affected, which creates economic and social insecurity. The true cost of unemployment is not measured only in lost income but also in its effect on the individual's well-being and the family's stability.
With these challenges in mind, it is crucial that Arbetsförmedlingen receives the resources needed to help and provide support to both job seekers and employers. How does the government intend to ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen receives the resources needed to meet the growing and changing needs that exist in the Swedish labor market today?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! It is very important that Arbetsförmedlingen works efficiently. Arbetsförmedlingen is a central authority, not least for helping those people who are far from the labor market.
In order for Arbetsförmedlingen to receive the best help and the best support, it is necessary that people in Sweden receive a good education. It is not Arbetsförmedlingen that primarily provides education for nursing assistants, practical nurses, or battery technicians. This does not take place at Arbetsförmedlingen.
Our strategy is to create tens of thousands of educational opportunities for the jobs where we know there is a shortage. I read in a morning newspaper today about an investigation that we have commissioned on how we can get even more people to be able to contribute and how we can provide a vocational education for people who are outside the labor market and for the jobs that exist. There are jobs to apply for today – there are over 140,000 vacant jobs in Sweden right now. After many years of too few measures to equip and match people in Sweden, these workplaces stand empty of new individuals who could contribute to building Sweden. It also continues to be far too many people who are unemployed.
Mr. Speaker! It would be interesting to hear whether the interpellor thinks that vocational education - whether it is yrkesvux or yrkeshögskola - is part of the active labor market policy or not.
We also have the transition package that has come along with the important agreement between the parties in the labor market. Sweden has a fantastic model for creating secure, safe, and good jobs, preferably with high productivity, which can lead to good real wage increases for people who go to work and build this country. When it is fully expanded, we have invested approximately 10 billion together, and I understand that the Social Democrats support it. So is this part of the active labor market policy? Yes, reasonably so, because it cannot be part of the library policy.
Of the 90 billion that the committee and the department are working with within the expenditure area, 7 billion go to Arbetsförmedlingen. They have approximately 10,000 employees, and they primarily help those who are furthest from the labor market. But education is the foundation.
Mr. Speaker! Serkan Köse rightly points out that we must ensure that Swedish companies grow and that we achieve a dynamic so that investments occur in our country. Then I am back to what Serkan Köse and I have talked about so much: There is only one way forward. When it concerns the most vulnerable, for example people who are on sick leave, students or have social assistance, the compensations must be raised when food has become more expensive at Coop, and that is what we do. But otherwise, a fairly tight fiscal policy is required to get rid of inflation, because it eats up people's faith in the future, investment opportunities and so on. It is this path we take while we simultaneously make efforts such as the rotavdrag and others so that construction workers can get jobs in a very difficult time.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! I am becoming a bit concerned when I listen to Johan Pehrson, because there does not seem to be any real understanding of how serious the situation on the Swedish labor market is. Johan Pehrson himself mentions that we have both high unemployment and very many vacant jobs. There is, therefore, a mismatch on the Swedish labor market. In northern Sweden, we have a huge challenge due to the enormous skills shortage, but in southern Sweden, unemployment is high. The Minister must address this problem.
Arbetsförmedlingen also organizes training, labor market training. These are services that are purchased. On average, 6,000 people undergo such training every year. The Government can look at how the number of labor market trainings can be increased and obtain more resources.
I share the view that vocational training is important. But they must not receive more resources in the budget; it is essentially plus minus zero.
The Government must look at the mismatch on the Swedish labor market. How are we to equip more people, and how are we to meet the skills supply needs that exist, in not least northern Sweden, in light of the fantastic green transition?
The Minister has not mentioned the growing long-term unemployment. Now that the economy is as it is, unemployment is increasing, and those who are most affected are those who have been unemployed for a long time. They are pushed even further away. This applies particularly in those areas and counties where many have been without work for a longer period. I lack concrete measures for how this situation should be handled.
There are groups that fight hard to get work and who perhaps do not have the education and competence that is demanded. There are also many with disabilities and elderly people here. Today we have a divided labor market. Among those born in Sweden, unemployment is low, while among those born abroad, especially among women and those with low education, it is higher.
Mr. Speaker! Research clearly shows that intensive mediation efforts, subsidized employment, and labor market training can make a difference for these individuals. That is why we insist that Arbetsförmedlingen is so important. A coordinated chain of measures is required that can progressively lead to employment.
Again: Given the challenges and problems we have on the Swedish labor market, what does Johan Pehrson intend to do? What concrete steps and measures does the Minister intend to take? You are removing 250 million from Arbetsförmedlingen and giving less money to program grants while we have these problems. How is this supposed to work, Johan Pehrson?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! We are investing over 90 billion in the budget to support people who have not entered the labor market and are temporarily outside of it. That is quite a lot of money.
The Social Democrats talk a lot about Arbetsförmedlingen. My answer is that Arbetsförmedlingen is very important. But what Arbetsförmedlingen does does not help if people do not learn Swedish and obtain basic education. One should have either completed ninth grade or completed upper secondary school. Let me inform the interpellator, the Speaker, and everyone in the gallery that the unemployment among those who speak sufficiently good Swedish and have an upper secondary education is very low. It was also very low during the Social Democrats' time.
The Social Democrats should therefore conclude that the Swedish language and education are the way – along with investing in Sweden and creating new jobs, whether it is at Atria in Sköllersta, in the new establishment in Landskrona, or anywhere else. But it often requires that one speaks Swedish and has a basic education.
We invest in basic education so that people do not leave Swedish school without knowledge. Students must not become enslaved and apathetic by screens but be able to read, write, and count. An enormous upgrade of Swedish school is required. Sweden provides. Gymnasium is tuition-free. University is tuition-free. In Sweden, you get paid to study to become a doctor. But we set requirements that one must go to school. If you come to Sweden from another country, you must learn Swedish. "It is difficult to learn Swedish." Yes, but what am I supposed to do about it? One is in Sweden. Then one cannot learn Finnish. One must learn the Swedish language if one has come here. If you go to school, you must not waste your life by watching TikTok or something else. You shall read books and do mathematics in school and have clear expectations and requirements on yourself. We provide, but we set requirements.
This is the liberal labor market policy's greatest focus.
There are skilled employees at Arbetsförmedlingen, but as Statskontoret now highlights, they had some difficult years during the last mandate period. The Social Democrats usually say it was because others ruined the budgets. But they remained in power, so it was a strange way to show leadership. They could have said: Enough is enough; we resign. But they stayed. From a leadership perspective, it was a weak argument. One should have taken responsibility.
We have given mandates for more labor market trainings. Not least, they shall be more locally anchored. There shall be more cooperation with the local business community so that the trainings are relevant. More women shall enter labor market training. We have spoken to Arbetsförmedlingen that they must get better at helping people with functional variations so that they get access to support and adaptation. Here, the unemployment has been too high for a very long time, and it must be lowered.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! How does Johan Pehrson concretely steer the labor market policy? Let us look at the regulatory letters to Arbetsförmedlingen. In 2022, when the Social Democrats were in power, there was a clear goal of increased transition to work and education, especially for women, and strengthened cooperation with other actors. We had a specific focus on women and labor market training. Johan Pehrson removed that in his regulatory letters in 2023 and 2024. In the 2024 regulatory letter to Arbetsförmedlingen, the direct reference to cooperation with municipalities that existed under the Social Democratic government is also missing.
Johan Pehrson speaks about cooperation, but it is not included in the regulatory letters. Johan Pehrson speaks about labor market training, not least that there should be a clear goal, but it is missing in the regulatory letter. That was removed.
I share the view that everyone who can work should work. Education is important; I share that view. Language is important. I have no other view than Johan Pehrson on these issues. One must do one's duty and demand one's rights, quite simply. But we have 350,000 unemployed people today. We have a mismatch in the labor market. We have a gigantic skills supply problem in very many sectors. We have a growing long-term unemployment. We have increased unemployment. We have increased bankruptcies. Is the answer then to stop TikToking and learn the language?
I do not understand what the discussion is about. Here we have a huge problem - today, now - that needs to be solved. I agree that the generations to come will have to learn the language and obtain an education. If you have an education, you get a job. But today we have a mismatch. We have an enormous problem in the Swedish labor market. We have construction workers who are becoming unemployed and are waiting for an answer. They want to know what the Minister intends to do. Will they be able to receive support with fewer resources for the labor market policy, Johan Pehrson?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I met representatives for the construction workers this week. It was an important meeting about, among other things, safety but also about conditions for work and investments in Sweden. There is nothing more important.
Here stand the Social Democrats who want construction subsidies in a recession, a mid-cycle, and a boom. They want subsidies constantly. We, on the other hand, are working to press down inflation and get interest rates down. Then it will start to be built in Höganäs, in Skellefteå, and here in Örebro. That is the way to go.
If the government does not take its political responsibility and fight inflation, it is playing away Sweden's prosperity and welfare in the long term. We are trying to meet this with large public investments. It is people in the important construction industry who are building new police stations and new defense facilities, because Sweden must strengthen its internal and external security.
New municipal facilities are being built all over Sweden. In Landskrona, they are building a new ice hockey arena, because they have managed their finances and invest at the times they know they should, when perhaps the labor market for private housing or rental housing is weaker. I appeal to the Social Democrats: Do not become an inflation- and speculation-driving noose around the neck of the Swedish economy again.
First, get out with the inflation, then the investments will start, and in between, one counters with public investments. That is the way forward, Mr. Speaker.
I agree with the interpellor that there is a skills shortage in Sweden, but in that case, the focus must be on education - on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and all the time!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.