Response to interpellation 2025/26:161 on subsidized jobs
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L believes that well-designed subsidized employments are effective for people with a weak connection to the labor market and that participation should increase 1. L proposes that funds be provided to extend establishment jobs and that vocational training be strengthened 1. L argues that the parties have the primary responsibility for increasing the volume of establishment jobs 2 3 and that the state contributes with funding and regulations 3. L believes that establishment jobs are something good that the state invests time, energy, and money into 4 and that the government is active to ensure there are more of them 4. S argues that the government has removed extra services without replacing them 5. S wants to know what other form could replace the extra services 6 and believes that the government should take responsibility for the management of establishment jobs via Arbetsförmedlingen 6 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.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Sofia Amloh has asked me if, in my continued work, I intend to take into account the research that confirms the importance of subsidized employment for persons with weak anchoring in the labor market. Furthermore, she has asked if I believe there is a need for more subsidized employment to create the opportunity to move from isolation to meaningful employment and what measures I, in that case, intend to take. I would first like to thank the member for the questions, which touch upon an important part of the labor market policy.
A large proportion of the unemployed are far from the labor market. Well-designed subsidized employments aimed at this target group have proven to be effective, and participation in such should therefore increase. The number of people participating in subsidized employments has, however, decreased in recent years, as the worsened situation on the labor market has affected the development negatively.
In the budget bill for 2026 (prop. 2025/26:1), the Government has proposed that funds be allocated to enable an extension of the establishment jobs. The introduction of the support was delayed, and the Government sees a continued need for support for the target groups of the long-term unemployed and newly arrived immigrants. The number of people participating in the support needs to increase significantly, and it is important that the labor market parties work clearly towards such a volume increase.
Several different tools and solutions are needed to reduce long-term unemployment. For more people to get into jobs, more people need to educate themselves to be able to take the jobs that exist. Therefore, the government is making investments in the budget bill for 2026 to strengthen vocational training.
Within regional vocational adult education, the government is planning a number of changes which, among other things, aim to increase the number of actually completed educations. We are also trying to achieve more educations in the areas where the educations cost more to arrange. Educations shall also be able to be carried out with maintained quality.
Against the background of high unemployment, there is a great need to improve the matching of job seekers in order to shorten the duration of unemployment. In the budget bill for 2026, the government therefore proposes funds for Arbetsförmedlingen for improved matching and monitoring of job seekers.
The Government proposes that Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative grant be increased by 100 million kronor in 2026. The Government estimates a supplement of 200 million kronor in 2027 and 300 million kronor from 2028 onwards.
The Government will continue to follow this development closely.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thought I would start by talking about the primary task of active labor market policy. It is to support people who become unemployed so that they return to permanent employment and self-sufficiency. Since unemployed individuals constitute a rather heterogeneous group with varying needs and circumstances, a battery of labor market policy tools such as education, work placements, guidance, matching, and subsidized employment or activities is required.
Sweden invests resources in subsidized employment. There are good arguments for this, not least against the background of positive effects regarding the transition to unsubsidized employment, i.e., regular work. This applies particularly if the subsidies are directed towards groups with weak ties to the labor market and particular difficulties in obtaining unsubsidized jobs.
It appears from investigations that measures such as extra services reached a group that was particularly weak and had a weak connection to the labor market. A report from Arbetsförmedlingen published a few years ago showed that eight out of ten of those who had extra services had been registered with Arbetsförmedlingen for two years or more. It should be seen as a fairly positive result if these people received a measure that took them from this passivity to the labor market.
More such tools are needed, but this government has removed the extra services and the tools that were needed to reach this long-term unemployment.
If one does not think that this was a good form, and ignores the fact that it employed the long-term unemployed who then came closer to the regular labor market, perhaps it could be replaced with some other type of subsidized employment that hit exactly the same group and reached approximately equally positive results. But this government has not done that.
This government, Madam Speaker, has removed this and has not replaced it with anything. In my world, it is extremely strange to do so. People talk about wanting people to move from being passive to entering the labor market, and people talk about wanting to tackle long-term unemployment – and there were measures that led to people entering work. Many children saw their mothers go to work and came much closer to the labor market.
One removes that effort – and does what? One does not replace it with anything. It is very strange to me, Madam Speaker.
The Minister may be pleased to answer: Had one intended to have any other form? Which one was that in that case? Why were fewer tools needed in that case and not more?
I am very pleased that the Minister for Employment specifically highlights the establishment jobs in his answer. Given that over the last two weeks there has been a very careful effort to push the responsibility back onto the parties in the labor market, I would very much like to hear how the third party, which initiated the agreement on the establishment jobs, thinks and reasons regarding its own responsibility to get more people into establishment jobs.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! There is a relatively extensive body of research literature where the effects of subsidized employment have been studied, and just as has been pointed out by both the member and myself here, it shows positive effects.
To answer the question about the establishment jobs straight out: There, we obviously have a situation where it is primarily the parties, not the state, who have created the model. On the other hand, the state is involved as a financier and has solved a number of problems that have arisen along the way regarding risks concerning state aid. Not least, the state has allocated funds; in the budget bill for 2026, the government has proposed that funds for an extension be made available, which would mean that the agreements on the establishment jobs can be extended until 2028.
We have also cleared up a number of question marks regarding Arbetsförmedlingen's possibilities and role in this system. I believe that all those question marks are now resolved. What is missing are employers who know that they can make use of establishment jobs, that these employers register with Arbetsförmedlingen, and that Arbetsförmedlingen can verify that the employers actually have agreements on establishment jobs. There, the parties have a very large responsibility for information towards both the employers and Arbetsförmedlingen, for this is no information that the government holds or that Arbetsförmedlingen in normal cases holds. Arbetsförmedlingen does not know exactly which collective agreements different employers have.
The government has, in the budget bill for 2026, calculated on a volume track which implies that the number of persons with establishment jobs shall increase significantly every year up to and including 2032, when the number is expected to culminate in an annual average of 9,500 persons. This is in line with what the parties forecasted when they implemented and negotiated the reform; I believe they mentioned approximately 10,000 persons. The target group for establishment jobs is well, approximately 100,000 persons.
Volumes need to increase significantly going forward by having more collective agreements on establishment jobs signed, but the volumes must, as said, also increase within the agreements that are already signed. The parties in the labor market have a clear responsibility to work for such a volume increase, and the government has, in dialogue with the parties in the labor market, asked them to come back with a plan for what they can do to achieve this. Now, the responsibility lies clearly with the parties.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answers!
I would like to return to the extra services and why they were removed. The Minister and I are, in fact, in agreement that these subsidized jobs have had positive effects, Madam Speaker. I am very pleased that we can shake hands on that and that we are in agreement on that picture.
Just considering that we Social Democrats and the government agree that the extra services have had positive effects when it comes to getting people closer to the labor market, I wonder why they have been removed. I also wonder what other form could replace the extra services for the specific target group that they reached. That question remains, therefore, and I hope that the Minister can come back and give clear information on that.
One might even consider bringing back this type of subsidized employment; it would fit very well in the labor market situation we have, with high long-term unemployment, in order to get more people into employment and away from passivity. It would be very welcome, so I would gladly shake hands with the Minister on that before we leave the chamber today. We shall see if it can be relevant!
I go back to the establishment jobs. I am becoming a little worried, Madam Speaker. I was not as worried before as I am since I heard the Minister's answer and that the Minister's view is that the state is not a third party in this. There are three parties that have decided that they want the establishment jobs. They believe in the measure, see the potential, and have solved a number of tasks together. They have different roles and are different parties, but the state and the government are one of three parties.
My question was what the government is doing in its part. In what way is responsibility being taken in this? There is, in fact, a lot of talk about what the parties should do. The parties have reported to the government the deficiencies that exist, and it is, among other things, precisely at the agency Arbetsförmedlingen that a number of deficiencies have existed. It would be very important – and help all three parties, I believe – if the government took its responsibility and rectified this in the regulatory letter to Arbetsförmedlingen.
So it is a very simple question to the Minister: Will we see guidance regarding establishment jobs in that regulatory letter to Arbetsförmedlingen for the coming year, which should be in place at any moment?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I believe that the discussion we are having now is very important. Extra services are discussed a lot, which the member points out, but there are also other things. There are, for example, start-up jobs, and we have talked about the establishment jobs.
I would also actually like to raise the activity requirement that will be introduced from the turn of the half-year 2026, which means that those people who receive social assistance and have the capacity to work – who are thus unemployed – will be guaranteed an activity. We set requirements on the municipalities that these people shall be activated in different ways because passivity is so dangerous, which we have touched upon in previous discussions here in the chamber today.
I would like to say that with that palette we are quite well equipped moving forward. The establishment jobs are, however, a bit of a concern, and we will surely have reason to return to them later. But I also want to emphasize education. It is absolutely central to ensure that there are education opportunities, and the government has added an additional 11,000 places in education programs that focus on the type of vocational skills that lead to jobs. Even though we have high unemployment, there are in fact many vacant jobs in our country.
The committee members asked what we are doing for the establishment jobs, and I believe I was clear that we have added money to the budget so that they can now be extended. Now it is up to the parties to extend the existing agreements, but it is also up to the parties to sign agreements in more areas. That is necessary if this is to gain momentum.
I do not entirely share the description that this is a tripartite solution. It was the trade unions and employers who jointly came to the conclusion that this was a good idea, and it is they who have signed the agreements. Then they have come to the state and said: This is how we want to do it, and the state has then made this possible in various ways. In that way, the state is of course a party, but it is in any case not in my book that the state has gone to the parties to achieve this. Instead, the parties themselves have come to this and signed agreements, and then the state of course contributes with money, regulatory frameworks, state aid assessment towards the EU, and other things needed to make this possible.
We do, however, believe in the establishment jobs; we think they have great potential even if they have not delivered so far. The near future will well show whether they will do so or not, but that requires several agreements, it requires more employers who demand establishment workers and it requires better information provision to Arbetsförmedlingen.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I will begin by being very clear that the activity requirement is not a subsidized employment.
The Minister of Justice raises, for example, "nystartsjobb" (new start jobs), and I believe we are quite in agreement that there is a lot of cheating and problems with that type of form of employment. I refer instead to extra services or the "etableringsjobb" (establishment jobs), which are more regulated precisely so that there is no cheating with tax funds in that type of subsidized employment.
When I ask for more subsidized forms of employment, I mean those where we can ensure that no fraud occurs with tax funds to the extent that we can see.
Madam Speaker! It is extremely remarkable that the Minister does not see themselves as a clear third party in the agreement on the establishment jobs. I am becoming truly worried, because it could pose a danger to this solution. This is a task for three parties. To leave the labor organizations and Svenskt Näringsliv alone with this agreement is remarkable. The Government may provide more money in the budget, but it also requires steering of the money.
Should I interpret the Minister's statement as that one does not intend to steer Arbetsförmedlingen towards the establishment jobs? In that case, I become even more worried, and then it could become really tough during the coming years.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the discussion, and we appear to be in complete agreement that establishment jobs are a good thing that it is good for the state to devote time, energy, and money to, which has also been done. In the latest budget bill, we have also signaled that we will continue to do so.
It is not Arbetsförmedlingen or the government that employs establishment workers. It is employers who do, and employers must demand establishment workers. We have removed the obstacles that exist, and there is nothing indicating problems at Arbetsförmedlingen, provided that the information required is received from employers and trade unions regarding which agreements exist and which companies have agreements and can therefore use establishment workers.
I would not be as worried as the member expresses. We both seem to believe in the establishment jobs, and the government is very active in ensuring that the establishment jobs increase.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.