Response to interpellation 2024/25:48 on the work of getting the unemployed into the labor market and meeting the skills supply
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that the government prioritizes fighting inflation through restrained fiscal policy 1 2 and invests in the work principle by activating the unemployed with cost-effective measures and training 1. L proposes strengthening Arbetsförmedlingen with its own staff and increased information exchange with municipalities 1. L emphasizes that education is crucial and invests in vocational colleges and adult education 1 3, and argues that it should always be profitable to work compared to benefits 2. L believes that the government has conducted a responsible economic policy that has lowered inflation so that interest costs for home loans can become lower 2. S argues that the government has a conservative view where the unemployed are left to fend for themselves 4 and criticizes that educational places are not increasing in line with the need 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 Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Lars Mejern Larsson has asked me what measures I intend to take to improve the Swedish Public Employment Service's work in getting the unemployed into the labor market.
The government has taken a number of measures and is focused on pushing back unemployment. The most important measure has been to prioritize combating inflation through a restrained fiscal policy.
The Government's strategy to get more people into work and a well-functioning labor market is aimed at re-establishing the work principle, activating the unemployed, and prioritizing cost-effective measures and training that benefit the skills supply. Arbetsförmedlingen needs to become more efficient with a clear focus on core activities, including assessment and planning of support and interventions for job seekers, monitoring the unemployed's search activity, and support in employers' recruitment work.
Madam Speaker! 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 knowledge in the Swedish language or work-related experience.
Against that background, a reinforcement of Arbetsförmedlingen's support with its own staff to job seekers with large support needs is proposed. In the budget bill for 2025, an addition of 79 million kronor to Arbetsförmedlingen is proposed. For 2026, the government estimates that 158 million kronor will be added to the operations and 238 million kronor from and including 2027.
The single most important contribution to establishing oneself on the labor market in the long term is education. High-quality education strengthens individuals' opportunities to establish themselves on the labor market and makes it possible to utilize everyone's competence.
The investments made in multiple places both within vocational higher education and vocational adult education improve access to education so that more people can quickly enter the workforce. In the budget bill for 2025, the government proposes an additional 900 million kronor, including student grants, for approximately 11,000 new places in regional vocational adult education in komvux. Additionally, the grant to mentors in lärlingsvux is doubled.
The Government also proposes in the budget bill for 2025 an investment of 32 million kronor on increased information exchange between Arbetsförmedlingen and the municipalities. An improved information exchange can contribute to more unemployed people being able to participate in education within komvux that they need to enter employment. It also provides better conditions for individualized support. At the same time, Arbetsförmedlingen receives tools to follow up that the job seekers follow the authority's instructions and to verify their entitlement to compensation. The occurrence of incorrect payments is thus assessed to decrease.
The government's starting point is that everyone who can work shall do so. The unemployed shall be offered the right support and measures. At the same time, there shall also be clear activity requirements for receiving compensation or benefits.
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister's response to the interpellation confirms my concern that there are great challenges for those who are unemployed, especially for individuals with disabilities and a lack of work experience.
The Minister's response begins with the government's mantra that the most important measure has been to prioritize combating inflation through a restrained fiscal policy and thereby combat unemployment. It is somewhat like braking uphill instead of pedaling.
Then the Minister continues in his answer with the government's strategy to get more people into work, which is aimed at restoring the work line. That which is to be restored has never needed to be restored except when our country has had a bourgeois government. Now the need is perhaps even greater, when we have a right-conservative one.
I can once again state that the conservative view on unemployment, where the unemployed have to blame themselves and unemployment is something that the individual has to solve, becomes clear in the minister's answer. It also appears that society, according to the minister's answer, should not engage in the issue.
Madam Speaker! A few weeks ago, I met Jocke and his parents, who described that he was not receiving the help he needs from Arbetsförmedlingen. Jocke did not feel that the job coach understood his disability or gave him the support he needs to enter the labor market.
For someone like Jocke, who has both ADHD and dyslexia, the path into the working life can be long and difficult. Since he graduated five years ago, he feels, despite repeated attempts to get support from Arbetsförmedlingen, that his opportunities for work have not increased.
He has sought jobs and looked for internships on his own but has always encountered obstacles from the employment service side which have caused his self-esteem to sink. This, in turn, has led to a feeling of hopelessness which has caused Jocke to experience his existence as meaningless.
During the conversation, it emerged that Arbetsförmedlingen has failed to offer the kind of adapted support that young people with disabilities are entitled to. This has resulted in several years of unnecessary unemployment and frustration for both Jocke and his family.
This is part of a larger problem where young people with disabilities risk being left out of the regular labor market.
I promised Jocke and his parents to raise this issue - that is why we are standing here today - to ensure that the government takes its responsibility and acts to help these young people. We cannot allow more people like Jocke to be left without the help they need to build a meaningful future at a time when Sweden's companies lack labor.
Madam Speaker! I would therefore like to ask the Minister for Employment: How does the government intend to improve support for young people with disabilities, and what concrete measures does the government plan to ensure that these young people will get a fair chance to enter the regular labor market?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Lars Mejern Larsson, for your commitment to these issues! I think the family that you describe in such a vivid and striking way provides an important perspective when we discuss these types of issues.
Unfortunately, it is the case that our society is not fully adapted for people with disabilities. It is noticeable in school. It is noticeable in society at large. It is noticeable, not least, when it comes to the opportunity to get out and find a job. That is also why the government has very high ambitions in this area when it comes to ensuring that people who have a disability can, in some way, enter the labor market.
In the budget that we will soon decide on, we are making a number of targeted investments aimed at strengthening the position of people with disabilities in the Swedish labor market. It could be about the right or the possibility to receive interpretation if one has that type of barrier - to take a concrete example.
We have a number of different measures for people with different types of disabilities. It can involve Samhälls interventions or other types of labor market policy measures that are an important part of the Swedish model, where we strengthen and build up people so that they can take the jobs that are available.
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the detailed answer from the Minister. But I feel concerned. The newspaper headlines are clear and numerous. I choose to highlight two of these to describe the problem in today's labor market.
The supply of skills is a matter of destiny for Sweden. It is difficult to find the right skills for the companies, which harms growth and welfare.
The shortage of competent labor is glaring across the entire country, but at the same time, the places in the vocational training programs remain empty. The municipalities have primary responsibility for the vocational training, but their weak finances mean that this is being deprioritized now that the government is pursuing a tight economic policy to specifically combat inflation. The problem has been known for a long time, but this regarding the possibility of further education does not seem to be taken fully seriously because the training places are not increasing at the same rate as the need is increasing.
This problem is not local, but companies across the entire country are affected. And it does not only concern the industry but also healthcare and other sectors. At the same time, industries and companies all over Sweden, not least in Värmland, face major challenges regarding the supply of skills. They are desperately searching for labor.
The Minister highlights in their response the government's investments in vocational colleges and vocational adult education. But unfortunately, there is a major problem with these investments, as a large proportion of the unemployed do not have approved upper secondary school grades. This will mean that the long-term unemployed will move further and further away from the jobs they so desperately need.
It is good that language requirements are being raised, but at the same time, the training programs are being reduced during 2025. It feels like double messages from the government.
I really want to emphasize that education is part of the infrastructure, just like roads and railways. And infrastructure is the state's responsibility. Here, the state should allocate resources so that the unemployed can move from unemployment to self-sufficiency. We cannot have an unemployment rate that is the highest in ten years while at the same time companies cannot find the labor force they are in need of.
Madam Speaker! I would therefore like to ask the Minister if he truly understands the need for a national strategy to ensure that companies across the country can access competent labor and if the government has any plans to develop such a strategy.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! It is quite true that the government prioritizes the fight against inflation. It is also why we now see how inflation is going down and how interest rates are going down. I believe that many Swedish households are very happy that the bourgeois government chose not to fuel the inflation bonfire we had in the Swedish economy but chose to cool it down, so that we can now see how inflation can go down and thus also how interest rates can go down. It is important for many households. It is important for Swedish companies. It is important for the economy to be able to kick into gear.
Madam Speaker! It is absolutely true, as Lars Mejern Larsson says, that this government prioritizes vocational training. It is absolutely true that we have never had as many places in our vocational training as we have this year, 2024. There will be even more next year. It is very important.
It is also so, just as the interpellator says, that until last year there were no vocational educations for those who had not completed upper secondary school with full grades. But that is no longer the case. The government has a pilot project, a national vocational education, which is a vocational college for individuals who do not need to have a secondary school diploma.
This naturally creates an opportunity for new groups to enter the Swedish labor market and receive an education. The undersigned had the pleasure of inaugurating such an activity in Malmö during the autumn and could see what fantastic activity this has the potential to become. It is about people who want to change careers in the middle of life and people who have been unemployed getting the opportunity to study a course and in that way obtain a job.
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I am forced to conclude that although the government has performed a rook move among the liberal ministers and, quite cleverly, swapped one Pehrson for another Persson, there is nothing new under the sun.
One understands that the former Pehrson has handed over the responsibility for this area with a warm hand to his successor now that unemployment is rapidly rising to record levels and disappearing into the school world. But I want to assert that the government does not seem to understand that these two areas are strongly associated with each other – unemployment and the opportunity for further education.
I can state that the requirements for the unemployed are clear in the response that the government's newly appointed minister has given me. He says in his response that the government's starting point is that everyone who can work shall do so. They shall be offered the right support and measures, which we have discussed here. At the same time, there shall be clear activity requirements in order to receive compensation or benefits.
I can, for my part, think that these starting points can be reasonable, but I do not want to stop at the unemployed. I think that these starting points can also apply to the responsible minister.
Madam Speaker! This means that I will return to the chamber at regular intervals to check whether the minister is actually living up to these requirements. If that is not the case, we will have to have a debate on clear activity requirements for receiving compensation, for in the minister's case, it can well not be relevant to have grants?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Lars Mejern Larsson, for an excellent debate! It has become very clear to the viewers and listeners what differences there are in Swedish politics. It is the Social Democrats' contribution line versus the bourgeois government's and the Liberals' work line. We have high expectations of people. We set demands on people. To set demands is to care. If one can work, one shall work. One is expected to seek the jobs that exist. One is expected to educate oneself. It is an important part in ensuring that the work line shall apply.
It is also about ensuring that it always pays to work compared to living on benefits, but in their budget, the Social Democrats increase the benefits and make it less profitable to move from benefits to work.
Madam Speaker! Education is absolutely crucial for people to be able to get a job, and the government is investing heavily in the education line. It is about vocational training that leads to real jobs, to a job at a workplace at a company. These are educations that strengthen people's competence and the opportunity to take the vacant jobs that exist.
It is the work line versus the benefit line.
What worries me most is that the Social Democrats are criticizing the government for having conducted a responsible economic policy and ensured that inflation has been brought down so that interest rates can fall and ordinary people can see that the interest cost for the mortgage becomes lower every month. This is rooted in the fact that the government has conducted a responsible policy. That the Social Democrats now want to dismantle this worries me very much.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.