Response to interpellation 2024/25:18 on new warnings 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
L believes that Arbetsförmedlingen needs to become more efficient by focusing on core activities and reducing the administrative superstructure 1 2. L argues that the government is making historical investments in vocational training 3, that fighting inflation is crucial for the economy 3 and that the recession is due to global factors 3. L argues that S cannot be convinced regarding the work principle or tax cuts 4. S argues that Sweden is in an unemployment crisis where the government is not taking the situation seriously 5. S believes that the cuts are a consequence of the government's austerity policy 5 and that the government lacks a clear action plan 6. S argues that money set aside for Arbetsförmedlingen should be used 7.
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 Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me what measures I intend to take to ensure that Arbetsförmedlingen can fulfill its mission despite the current cuts, how I and the government intend to ensure that support for job seekers is not negatively affected by these notices, and whether I consider that Arbetsförmedlingen has the resources required to meet the increasing unemployment and, if not, whether I intend to work to have more resources allocated.
Arbetsförmedlingen needs to become more efficient with a clear focus on its core activities. The agency's management 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 interventions for job seekers, monitoring the job seekers' search activity, and support in employers' recruitment work.
The Government has commissioned Statskontoret to analyze and assess the efficiency of Arbetsförmedlingen's use of administrative resources. The analyses and assessments shall be based on how the use of administrative resources supports the agency's tasks and mandate, with a particular focus on the agency's work with job seekers and employers. The assignment shall be final reported by January 31, 2025, at the latest.
Everyone who can work shall work. It is a prerequisite for the Swedish welfare society. The employment rate is high in Sweden. The main challenges in the labor market can be linked to the high unemployment. The government's strategy to get more people into work and a well-functioning labor market is aimed at re-establishing the work line, activating the unemployed, and prioritizing cost-effective measures and training that benefit the skills supply. Labor market policy needs to become more effective. The unemployed have varying knowledge, skills, and other prerequisites, and many are able to seek jobs on their own.
Unemployment is, however, largely structural. A large proportion of the unemployed have limited skills and are far from the labor market. For these, there is a greater need for support and measures that should be cost-effective and adapted to the different circumstances and needs of the unemployed. To facilitate entry into the labor market, measures are needed, among other things, that provide good knowledge of the Swedish language or work-related experience.
Mr. Speaker! In order to provide reinforced support to persons who are far from the labor market, it is proposed in the budget bill for 2025 that Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grant be increased by 79 million kronor in 2025. The grant is estimated to increase by 158 million kronor in 2026 and by 238 million kronor from 2027 onwards so that Arbetsförmedlingen can provide reinforced support with its own staff to job seekers with great support needs, as a complement to matching services. It is an important measure, among other things, to strengthen the opportunities for work for foreign-born persons, and thereby improve integration, and for persons with a disability that entails reduced work capacity. At the same time, the funds for matching services are reduced.
The Government assumes that the authority adapts its operations in a responsible and long-term sustainable manner according to the funds decided by the Riksdag.
The Government closely follows the developments in the labor market and the work of Arbetsförmedlingen.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Minister Mats Persson for the answer.
Sweden is still in a recession, and unemployment is now the highest in ten years if we set aside the pandemic. These are not my words, Mr. Speaker, but they are the government's own figures.
We have today over 360,000 people who are without jobs in Sweden, which places Sweden among the countries with the highest unemployment in Europe. Only Spain and Greece have higher figures, according to Eurostat.
Briefly, Mr. Speaker, we have an unemployment crisis in Sweden. We also have a government that does not seem to take this seriously. I have also listened to previous debates. I can state that the fact is that the government does not realize that we have a crisis on the Swedish labor market today.
Mr. Speaker! In just one year, unemployment has increased by 29,000 people, and it is young people who are hit hardest. Today, 46,000 young people are unemployed, which is a clear and worrying increase compared to last year.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Layoffs are increasing everywhere. Most recently, Northvolt came out and announced that they are laying off 1,600 people. We see a similar development within the construction industry, trade, transport, and several other sectors. What is the government doing in this unemployment crisis? The short answer is, Mr. Speaker: nothing.
It is worrying that we have a government that completely lacks a plan to handle the growing unemployment. The situation is only getting worse, Minister for Employment.
As if this were not enough, the authority that is to work with these issues regarding layoffs is now warning again. It is not the first time Arbetsförmedlingen has been forced to warn or dismiss staff. It has happened several times along the way, in recent years. It is a consequence of the government's cutback policy within the labor market policy.
It is not just a restructuring. It is a weakening of an authority that is already under pressure, at a time when the labor market faces major challenges to manage.
Mr. Speaker! It is a very worrying development on the Swedish labor market. More and more people need help from Arbetsförmedlingen, and Arbetsförmedlingen is laying off staff and does not consider that they have sufficient capacity to handle this.
Mr. Speaker, this is not an isolated incident. The costs are increasing not only within the industry and the construction sector but also within the public sector and in our regions. In our hospitals, large deficits are now forcing both hiring freezes and layoffs. At the same time as unemployment rises, this government delivers no solutions. On the contrary, resources are being withdrawn from the authority which, as stated, has the task of helping people back into the labor market. This is a policy that hits hardest against the most vulnerable – youth, the long-term unemployed, and those who stand far away from the labor market.
Mr. Speaker! Every time the right has had the opportunity, they have slaughtered the labor market policy. In the 2019 budget, when M, KD and SD joined forces, they pushed through drastic cuts on labor market programs and initiatives but also on administrative appropriations.
Mats Persson says in his response that the administrative appropriation is being increased by 79 million kronor next year. But let us be honest with each other, Minister. It is not new money. It is a redistribution from other important programs. The Government is merely moving funds around, which is also stated in the budget, from labor market policy programs and initiatives to the administrative appropriation.
Given the situation, I would like to ask the Minister: How is the Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) to fulfill its mission of helping people back into work when the government and the Sweden Democrats have systematically cut resources over the past few years?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Serkan Köse, for your interpellation and for your commitment to these issues! I know it is deep and broad. I welcome it.
I believe one should be honest and say that the Social Democrats and the bourgeois government have different views on labor market policy, just as MP Serkan Köse highlights. There are ideological differences when it comes to what we believe has an effect and how we think the policy should be designed.
We believe that it is important to have a focus on that people should receive support, but that the support should mean that one can get a real job and that the educations should take place close to the employers and the needs of the business sector. It is important to ensure that there are high expectations on people, that they seek work, that they move to where the jobs are and that they learn the Swedish language. The government considers this to be an important starting point for this work.
Another important part is to ensure that we do not have too much bureaucracy in the Swedish state. It is a problem that for too long we have had a growing proportion of administrators, communicators, and bureaucrats who do not directly work in the core of the welfare system. Those parts have grown, and we need to do something about the administrative superstructure.
I meet far too often people who work in the state and in the core of the welfare system who experience that new tasks are constantly coming from above, new managers and new administrative so-called support functions that mostly result in more work at the expense of the welfare workers and the state employees.
The notices that have now been issued regarding Arbetsförmedlingen concern staff and support functions. It is not about employment agents who work with the core activities, but it concerns other competencies within the agency. There will be a reduced administrative superstructure and more focus on the core activities – getting people into work, ensuring that they apply for the jobs that exist, and ensuring that they take the personal responsibility that we, as representatives of Sweden's taxpayers and the Swedish people, have the right to expect.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! From the outside, I perceive from the Minister's answer that the Minister does not take the crisis on the Swedish labor market seriously. I did not quite experience the Minister saying anything about this. This also appeared clearly in the Minister's first answer.
I mentioned that we have the highest unemployment in ten years - those are not my words but the government's words - and that we are in the top bracket within the EU. At the same time, I mentioned that the layoffs and bankruptcies are increasing. And the agency that is supposed to help people back into work is laying off staff. Even if it is other competencies, it will have an impact on the agency's operations and priorities. A very large amount of those competencies and work tasks might fall on employment agencies. We do not know that. There is an ongoing discussion about how to handle it.
But this is not something that has emerged now, but it has been this way since 2019. Every time the right has been in power and had the opportunity, they have cut back on the resources for active labor market policy and for Arbetsförmedlingen. They have halved the labor market policy interventions from 2018 until today.
In this situation, when the crisis is so deep in the Swedish labor market, I would have expected three things from the Minister: that the government shows crisis awareness, that there is a clear action plan, and that the government presents reforms and measures to get more people into work.
Mr. Speaker! Let me remind you that both the reform list and the bill list are empty.
Then I completely share the government's view, as appears in the response, that everyone who can work shall work. I also say that in reference to the previous discussion on the subsidy line. But in order for people to succeed in working, an active labor market policy is required, and reforms are required. Political ideas and proposals are also required, and an action plan for how to get more people into work.
It can be observed that instead of the Minister coming to this discussion with concrete proposals, the government highlights, as was also raised earlier, lowered taxes and worsened finances. Tax cuts are presented as a solution to all problems, but reality shows something completely different.
Let me also state, Mr. Speaker, that the Fiscal Policy Council has been clear in its latest report, which I believe the Minister has taken note of. It concerns the government's strategy with tax cuts and economic incentives. It has very little or no impact on employment. What that council highlights and states is that what is needed is an improved matching between the employers' needs and the job seekers' skills. Despite that, we can see that the government completely ignores this and does not come forward with any concrete proposals on how to target investments on education, transition, and support for those who are far from the labor market.
The Minister has previously stated that a very large amount is invested in vocational adult education and vocational higher education. That is indeed what is done, and it is important, I also think, to meet specific needs in the labor market. But at the same time, we can see that other parts of adult education have been affected by cuts. In both 2022 and 2023, adult education was reduced by over 1 billion. Then a certain restoration was made in the 2024 budget, but it still remains below the need.
Here we stand today, and I hope and expect that the Minister can say something more concrete about how to handle the developments in the Swedish labor market and get more people into work. Will we be able to see any clearer reform from the government?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to Serkan Köse for the interpellation and the questions!
It is quite true that we have a tough economic situation both in Sweden and in Europe. We have a prolonged recession that has been deeper in Sweden than in several other countries. The recession is rooted in a cost shock, a cost crisis, which has hit households in Sweden in the form of a sharply increased inflation that has forced central banks all around the world, including in Sweden, to shock-raise interest rates so that a borrower who previously could have had a mortgage at a 1.5 percent interest rate has an interest rate of 4.5 percent. It is a dramatic increase for many households, which in a country where most have a variable interest rate on their mortgage naturally affects the consumption space and thus the industries that are very dependent on consumers being able to consume. Trade, restaurants, and the construction industry are three examples where demand has been strangled, not because of the Swedish government, not because of the Social Democrats, but ultimately because of global factors that began with Putin's invasion of Ukraine but which also have other geopolitical causes and which Swedish decision-makers and politicians have to manage.
The government's view has been and is that the fight against inflation is therefore absolutely crucial. It is only by bringing down inflation that we can bring down interest rates and get the economic wheels to roll somewhat faster. Households notice the difference, and that allows them to increase their consumption and in that way get the Swedish economy moving.
At the same time, of course, it is not enough to fight inflation. We also need to ensure that people are equipped and prepared and have the conditions to take the vacant jobs that, after all, exist. There are, in fact, industries that are crying out for labor despite the recession, and therefore the government is making historic investments in vocational training within the framework of the University of Applied Sciences, where nine out of ten get jobs and where one usually has a profession waiting for them at the other end, but also within what is called yrkesvux, where one can train for a profession such as a bus driver or to work in the municipality's elderly care.
These are important educational investments both for the individual, who gains more power and opportunities to grow, but also for the labor market, because it allows us to fill the skills gaps that exist on the Swedish labor market. Education is very closely linked to an effective labor market policy that makes a difference.
Madam Speaker! When it comes to Arbetsförmedlingen, one must also remember that it is an agency that for many years, both under Social Democratic governments and now under a bourgeois government, has returned a very large amount of the money it has received from the Riksdag. It has not been able to use all the money that the decision-makers have wanted it to use, and that testifies to systemic errors that we need to manage and solve so that the money comes to use where it does good and makes a difference.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I completely share the view that money earmarked for activities within Arbetsförmedlingen and that type of purpose should be used. I can also state that from 2006 until today, Arbetsförmedlingen has continuously sent back funds, and there are explanations for that, which the Minister also knows. It is not that one does not want to spend the money and therefore sends back funds, but it is cyclical, structural, and other types of causes that have contributed to the fact that all funds destined for labor market policy measures are not used. The administrative appropriation perhaps cannot be used because there has been fewer staff, which affects other types of measures. There is thus a history, and the Minister is aware of it.
I share, as I have said, the view that the money should be used, and there the government has the opportunity to rethink. Are there ways to use the money within the system in a different way? I mean that the government should come back with some kind of plan: What do we do with the money that remains anyway?
When we are talking about crisis awareness and so on, the government did remove the investment support right in the middle of the housing crisis. Was it really smart of the government to remove the investment support instead of stimulating housing construction so that construction workers could keep their jobs? Instead, one chooses to lower the tax by 27 billion. 45 percent of the 60 billion has gone to tax cuts. I, Mats Persson, Jimmie Åkesson and several others receive several thousand kronor in tax cuts while very many Swedes and Swedish households do not get to share in these tax cuts. Families with children and single parents also lose very much on this, not least when one looks at how the government has prioritized when it comes to the housing allowance, where the supplement is removed.
There are, therefore, very large ideological differences regarding how 60 billion shall be distributed. But I expect again, linked to the discussion on labor market policy, that the government takes this crisis seriously. I also expect the Council of State to come back with a clear plan for how Sweden shall get out of the crisis. 360,000 people are too many, Council of State!
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Serkan Köse, for your commitment and for an excellent interpellation debate!
I do not believe I have the prerequisites to convince the Social Democrats of the importance of the work line. I believe, unfortunately, that is a lost cause. For so many years, the Social Democrats and Serkan Köse in action have shown that you cannot be convinced. You will vote against every proposal we put forward to make it more profitable to work.
Now we will ensure that everyone who works in Sweden receives a tax cut. I suspect that the Social Democrats will vote against it, because you have done so every time we have presented such proposals. Every time we want to make it more profitable to work instead of living on benefits, the Social Democrats will meet it by submitting proposals that increase the benefits and which make it no longer profitable to work. Here lies an ideological dividing line between the Liberals and the Social Democrats.
I also do not think that I will be able to convince the Social Democrats of the importance of the fact that one does not only have rights but also obligations when living in Sweden. One has an obligation to do everything one can to take the jobs that are available, to move to vacant jobs, to learn Swedish to get better conditions to be able to work, to take the responsibility that is required oneself to be employable in Swedish society. I do not think that I will be able to convince the Social Democrats of that either.
Despite this, I would like to thank the member for a pleasant debate and for a good tone. I hope that we can cooperate on the issues where we agree more or less moving forward. I look forward to that.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.