Response to interpellations 2023/24:379 and 457 on measures to counter layoffs during the economic downturn
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that restrained fiscal policy is most important to fight inflation and push back unemployment 1. L emphasizes that everyone who can work should do so 1, that the job tax credit has been strengthened 1 and that vocational training as well as transition study support are being invested in 1 2. L argues that the renovation deduction is strengthened to support renovations 2 and that inflation must be fought first rather than through large government investments. L argues that S's policy with new taxes hits small business owners 3. S argues that the government is not doing enough to help companies 4, that the transition study support has too slow a processing time 4 and that cuts have affected education volumes 5. S advocates for construction stimuli, reintroduction of investment support and government construction loans 5. S argues that the government and SD have cut back on labor market policy measures and adult education 6. S argues that the government and SD refrained from injecting money into healthcare 7. S believes that justice and shared responsibility would have been better for Sweden than the combination of L and SD 8.
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! Åsa Eriksson has asked me what measures I intend to take so that those people, in Norberg and in other places, who are affected by layoffs in the economic downturn can be given other opportunities to work and support themselves.
Matilda Ernkrans has asked me what measures I have taken to push back unemployment in Sweden and in Örebro län. She has further asked what specific measures I have taken to ensure that the specific industries that have been hit hardest can reverse their development. Finally, she has asked what new initiatives I have taken to strengthen the opportunities for individuals to build on their competence in order to be able to retain or obtain a new job.
The government has taken a number of measures and is focused on pushing back unemployment. The most important measure is to prioritize the fight against inflation through a restrained fiscal policy.
Inflation is largely the root of the economic situation that Sweden finds itself in, and effective inflation control is a necessary step to strengthen Sweden's economy. It is a prerequisite for favorable economic development for both households and companies.
Everyone who can work shall do so. The Government continues the work to re-establish the work principle. It shall pay to move from benefits to jobs, and as part of this, the earned income tax credit for low- and middle-income earners has been strengthened, among other things. High requirements shall be set for those seeking jobs combined with the fact that the unemployed are offered the right support and measures. Furthermore, there shall be clear activity requirements for receiving benefits.
The situation on the labor market has deteriorated, and unemployment is expected to increase during 2024. Therefore, Arbetsförmedlingen's administrative appropriation has been increased by 200 million kronor to meet increased unemployment and strengthen the agency's control work. At the same time, the appropriation for labor market policy programs and measures in 2024 is higher than Arbetsförmedlingen's consumption of these funds during 2023.
The Government assesses that there continues to be room for efficiencies within the labor market policy and intends to prioritize cost-effective measures that are close to the workplace and that contribute to a high level of job-seeking activity and transitions to regular employment.
Arbetsförmedlingen has also received a continued mandate in this year's regulatory letter to increase geographical and professional mobility among the unemployed. Those who are without work must be prepared to retrain or seek work in another municipality.
In conclusion, investments in more locations within both the university colleges and the vocational adult education will improve access to such education so that more people can quickly enter the workforce. The investments are crucial both for Sweden's competitiveness and for individuals who get a better opportunity to enter the workforce.
The transition and skills support and the transition study support also increase individuals' opportunities to obtain or retain a job. An effective labor market policy and a well-functioning education system strengthen the work principle and create conditions for those who are forced to leave their jobs to move forward to studies or other jobs.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! Norberg is a small municipality in northern Västmanland. We are only 5,600 inhabitants, but we are proud and stubborn, and we fight for a living village.
Until recently, Norberg was somewhat of a stair center in Sweden. No fewer than two of the country's leading producers of prefabricated concrete stairs have had production here: Norbergstrappan and Forssellstrappan. They have been two of the municipality's largest private employers. They have employed numerous subcontractors and enabled men and women to have meaningful and developing jobs in the home area. When the Minister and others walk in the stairs at, for example, Friends Arena, you are walking in stairs that are produced in Norberg.
Madam Speaker! When the news came during the autumn from Strängbetong that their production in Norberg would cease as an effect of the crisis in the construction industry with missing construction projects, it was a death blow for our region. It is not only jobs that are lost. It is also development power that disappears, self-esteem that is crushed, and anger that flares up that the state does not help the companies to weather the crisis. It is 48 people who are laid off from Strängbetong and 7 people from Smidesbolaget in Norberg. For the Minister's knowledge, this corresponds to approximately 1,500 laid off in Örebro municipality - just so we understand the proportions.
Madam Speaker! I asked Jimmy Fredriksson, ombudsman at IF Metall Bergslagen, to describe what consequences this has. He chooses to take a national perspective and reminds us that it is thousands of people within the construction industry in Sweden who have lost their livelihood. And the government stands helpless. He argues that it is incomprehensible that the government has not stepped in with substantial support packages or subsidies when the construction of housing came to a grinding halt.
In his answer, the Minister mentioned the transition study support. It is a very good reform, which we Social Democrats saw to ensure was introduced. But the processing takes far too long, and the support needs to be expanded. So says Jimmy Fredriksson.
Madam Speaker! I cannot but agree. Despite widespread housing shortages, the construction rate in Sweden has stalled. According to Boverket's forecast, fewer than 20,000 homes will be started during the year, which can be compared to 59,000 in 2022. At the same time, we see that layoffs and bankruptcies are increasing in the construction industry. According to Byggnads a-kassa, unemployment is higher than during the covid pandemic, and the curve is pointing steeply in the wrong direction.
Madam Speaker! The Minister also raised in his answer the government's ambition that it should pay to move from benefits to work. It is a good ambition, but it certainly does not help the people who have now lost their jobs in Norberg. They are middle-income earners who want nothing more than to stay at their jobs.
Madam Speaker! I would therefore like to ask Minister Johan Pehrson what he wishes to convey to the people of Norberg. Here, the Minister has the opportunity to tell them clearly and distinctly what the government is doing for the 55 people who have just lost their jobs because the construction has stalled. And what measures does the Minister intend to take so that more do not have to meet the same fate?
Matilda Ernkrans (S)
Madam Speaker! One might think that the country's Minister for Employment should be interested in ensuring that healthcare workers and construction workers go to work instead of to the Public Employment Service, but that does not quite seem to be the case. Unemployment and layoffs are increasing in Sweden and in our shared home, Örebro.
What is Minister for Employment Johan Pehrson doing when unemployment is increasing both in Sweden as a whole and in Örebro län? The Minister is surely making important efforts, but here in Örebro län, he has been conspicuous by his absence. The times we have seen him, it has been with cancelled speeches or as a hockey player together with his son-in-law. It is certainly well-considered, but provocative when we see increasing unemployment and massive layoff figures. This applies not only in Örebro län but in large parts of Sweden.
Since the middle of last year, the downward unemployment curve has turned steadily upward. This is shown by Arbetsförmedlingen's statistics. If one adds the number of layoffs to that, the picture becomes even darker. A layoff means that employers warn their employees that they may be dismissed. According to Arbetsförmedlingen, 72,400 people were laid off in Sweden in 2023. This can be compared with 30,723 people in 2022. In Örebro län, our common home county, 11,978 people were laid off in 2023. In 2022, it was 725 people. And these are the figures for 2023! To these, the wave of layoffs sweeping across the Sweden of the healthcare crisis must now be added.
Many have already become unemployed and received worse finances and a tougher everyday life, and many walk around with the worry that they might become unemployed. The unemployment and the layoffs hit several industries, but the hardest hit are construction and manufacturing as well as health and social services.
We can dwell on the healthcare here in Örebro County. There, major measures have been taken by the regionally responsible politicians because the money simply does not suffice now that the government's home-made healthcare crisis has swept over Sweden and Örebro County.
The government, together with SD, chose to refrain from providing the money that disappeared from healthcare when inflation hit. In Region Örebro län alone, 1.2 billion is missing this year. Major measures have been taken. Efforts have been made to increase revenues by raising fees and taxes, but large savings are also being implemented. The situation has nevertheless worsened further due to the increasing inflation. Despite tax increases, 1 billion is still missing. The 160 million for Region Örebro län that the government and SD announced yesterday as temporary funds this year will therefore not stop the cuts. When employees leave, no new one will come. Patients will have to wait and healthcare staff will have to work harder. This is a reality that Örebro län shares with Östergötland, Södermanland, Gothenburg, Skåne, Värmland - yes, all of Sweden.
I do not know if the minister has visited any health center in Örebro county or perhaps any of our construction sites. The construction crisis has also hit hard in Örebro county. It is reported that residential construction will come to a complete standstill this year if the government does not take responsibility and take new measures. For that reason, I asked questions to the Minister for Employment.
Again: One might think that the country's Minister for Employment should be interested in ensuring that healthcare workers and construction workers get to go to work instead of to Arbetsförmedlingen.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I want to assure the interpellator that I know my beloved Örebro well. I also know Norberg. I know that people there who go to work and toil are now being hit hard in the recession that Sweden finds itself in. It is a recession that has many causes. It is a recession that not a single Social Democrat has desired. But I wish that the Social Democrats in the Riksdag would learn a bit from history and, for example, take a book by Kjell-Olof Feldt and read about how difficult the fight against inflation is, how difficult it is, and how it is a tunnel that one must go through. He writes that it is important to maintain a tight fiscal policy. That is what everyone, not least in the construction industry, agrees on.
The path to increased construction and new investments throughout Sweden - so that Norberg can deliver fantastic forging and world-famous stairs and the industries and companies in Örebro can grow and seek new citizens - means that inflation must go down because it makes the interest rate go down. That is how you get the investments started again. It is a difficult task, because there are always many who say that one can solve everything with more money.
This government has chosen to support everyone from students to parents on parental leave and people who may need housing supplements to give those who are most vulnerable some relief in a difficult time. But inflation cannot be talked, thought, or wished away. Inflation must be pushed out. It may look like we are on the right track, but the grade will only be felt when and if the Riksbank chooses to lower the interest rate. That is when these improvements will occur.
Specifically for the construction industry, it should be remembered that large investments are being made in public construction right now. Not least to strengthen our internal and external security, large construction projects are being carried out which also, for example, require stairs. But I understand that it is not enough. Construction of private detached houses, terraced houses, low-rise buildings, rental apartments, and condominiums is very pressured today depending on the relatively quite high interest rates, compared to what one has become accustomed to in recent years. That is the message. We are strengthening the rotavdrag to make it possible for more within construction to work with renovations at people's homes. It provides a certain support. It is a way.
People who fall into unemployment should have the opportunity for further education. That is why the transition study support is important. I can state that it has been ongoing for a while and that one is now entering a situation where the queue is being worked through. More people are receiving notices about whether they are entitled to education than there are new applications coming in. This is an incredibly strong and good support for people who want to make a change in their lives, either because they have become unemployed or because they want to do something else. It is a fantastic opportunity that the government is very happy to be able to deliver.
The answer is that we are going to invest even more in regular education. One should not have to be passively unemployed for long. That is why we are making major investments in vocational training, which I will return to.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the long exposition on how harmful inflation is! So far we agree. But I unfortunately do not think the people of Norberg will be particularly impressed when I go home and say that one has to put up with losing one's job, because the government does not intend to do anything more than passively wait for inflation to fall. That will not go down at home with me.
The Minister for Employment usually emphasizes that the cuts the government is making to active labor market measures are not intended to affect, for example, the volumes of labor market training. But we have seen that this has nevertheless been the case.
The Minister also usually emphasizes that the government is investing a lot of millions in this area, but what the people of Norberg see now is that those who apply for transition student support have to wait months just to have their application processed. Very few in Västmanland have been granted transition student support. Here, the government needs to do more so that people do not passively remain unemployed, which is also not what the Minister wants them to do. It benefits no one.
During the previous recession, when housing construction fell, we had an S-led government. For the sake of information, they cast concrete stairs in Norberg for Norra länken. It wasn't the world's most fun stair job, say those who usually think it is much more fun to cast special stairs, but it kept production flowing and ensured that the companies remained and that people kept their jobs. Slightly larger investments in something other than prisons would be desirable, the Minister for Employment.
Madam Speaker! Since the Minister does not have many ideas for measures, I would like to submit a few proposals from us Social Democrats. One could, for example, pick up our proposal on construction incentives for growing municipalities. It would be very good in many different ways. On the one hand, it would speed up construction there, which would provide jobs for subcontractors across the entire country; on the other hand, it would facilitate things for the unemployed whom the Minister very much wants to move to these emerging jobs in the north.
I also urge the government to reintroduce the investment support for apartments, which was proven to be good. We had a high level of housing construction when it existed. We can also introduce state construction loans which would facilitate getting parts of the construction industry started again. It would also be incredibly good if the government wanted to consider one of the things the Minister and I discussed in the previous debate we had about holding society together, namely forcing wealthy municipalities to build affordable rental apartments, so that people can move there and we can live a bit more mixed.
Madam Speaker! I think it is high time for the government to act to save the jobs and Sweden's economy. Yes, we shall fight inflation, but we cannot wait idly. Ensure that those who want to use the transition study support can do so, and get the construction moving!
If I have missed anything in the government's response, I give Johan Pehrson a chance: Is there anything concrete that Johan Pehrson wants to send with to the people of Norrberg?
Matilda Ernkrans (S)
Madam Speaker! The country's Minister for Employment should have an interest in ensuring that healthcare personnel and construction workers go to work instead of to Arbetsförmedlingen. The Minister should want fewer unemployed people and not more. The Minister lists a number of measures that he claims his government, together with the Sverigedemokraterna, has delivered, but the Minister himself knows how hollow this is.
The transition study support is something that I myself negotiated and delivered when I was Minister for Higher Education and Research. The support is much-awaited and important, not least for the labor market partners but also for all those people who, in the middle of their working lives due to external factors, will need to build upon or rebuild their education to stand stronger in the labor market. The Minister knows that not least the labor market partners have warned that the SD government is not taking responsibility for the transition study support and that the demand for transition study support is much higher than what the government has delivered in the budget. This was pre-spring crisis Sweden.
The Minister knows himself that the government, together with the Sweden Democrats, began its term by cutting back on labor market policy measures and on places of study within adult education. Colleges and universities also received their share of the lash. The Minister may be proud of what he thinks he has delivered, but the reality looks completely different.
There are some things we can agree on. More needs to be done to break the devastating long-term unemployment, and more needs to be done to ensure that the employers seeking labor are able to obtain that labor. But it is something much larger than an untrained single woman with children without full access to the Swedish language moving to northern Sweden to meet an employer's need for engineers. This should also be understood by the Minister for Employment.
In the Sweden of the construction crisis and the healthcare crisis, the Minister for Employment, given the challenges that already existed in the Swedish labor market, should have been concerned with maintaining the downward curve of unemployment that existed until the middle of last year. But instead, the minister in the government, together with the Sverigedemokraterna, is driving a policy that is now sending construction workers and healthcare personnel into unemployment.
The Minister is given a chance to answer the question: What are the government's new initiatives and priorities to stop the construction crisis, the healthcare crisis, and the increasing unemployment that follows in their wake?
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I am pleased that the members from the Social Democrats acknowledge that combating inflation is central. Inflation is eating up your savings. Inflation is eating up all investments. Inflation is driving investments out of Sweden; we must have more investments in Sweden. But it is a tough and difficult path.
Kilometers of literature, theses, and investigations have been written about how important it is to fight inflation. Kjell-Olof Feldt described this in his book. It is very important that people take it to heart. There is no shortcut, nor through large government investments in all sorts of things and large government housing companies that are to emerge in a time when we must bring down inflation and thus the interest rates. When we bring it down, construction will pick up. But in the meantime, I want to emphasize that new defense facilities, police stations, and justice centers are being built. Prisons are also being built, unfortunately. It is very sad that it needs to be done, but if one is to get order and clarity in the country Sweden, grossly criminal individuals must be locked up. I assume that the Social Democrats now stand behind that policy.
It was intended that the transition study support would be in full swing in 2025-2026. We are not quite there yet. But the government is injecting money into CSN to shorten the queues, which is also happening right now. When it comes to these educations, in the beginning, all possible applications that are not within the framework of what was intended will come in. But among those applying for educations, we now see many people who want to become, for example, police officers or nurses in the middle of life, so it fulfills an important function. No one wants more than the government that this should be started, be fully in place and function earlier than the previous government had as its ambition. But it takes time to establish a practice, and it takes time to build this up at CSN. Now the queues are being shortened.
I would have wished for a bit more discussion about the conditions of entrepreneurship. All the proposals that were now given as small tips to me as Minister for Employment and Integration, I am very happy about – thank you for them! But it was a question of state money and state investments. It was the state, the state, the state, the state. Yes, the state shall do its part. One example of the state doing its part is that yesterday we announced support to Sweden's regions, support which we also follow up with opportunities for support and help to get order in our regions, so that one gets better efficiency and gets out more care and more quality closer to the citizens in good time. It is a question of 6 billion in substantial funds to support the regions in a difficult time. But the reform work for a more efficient healthcare must continue. Regardless of whether it concerns Västmanland or Örebro county, it is regional politicians who are responsible with their own taxing rights. It is no one else who is responsible for that care. But the state can support, and now we have announced this.
We are also expanding vocational training, the University of Applied Sciences, and vocational adult education in a way we have not seen before. It is correct that during the pandemic, it was completely different levels. But then the pandemic has ended. At that point, the previous government also concluded the investments in its final budget. We are now adding substantial investments "post-pandemic". People shall educate themselves, and then people shall go to a job.
Åsa Eriksson (S)
Madam Speaker! Last week, I debated the conditions for entrepreneurs with Minister for Enterprise Ebba Busch, and also from a perspective from northern Västmanland. It concerned all the companies within the tourism, forestry, and agriculture sectors that have, in practice, been hit with a business ban due to the swine fever restrictions. They are losing business and revenue, but they still cannot apply for state compensation for it.
To that, we also add companies within the construction industry that are now losing business because residential construction is slowing down. It is not a hot labor market for entrepreneurship in northern Västmanland right now, I can inform the Minister for Employment.
If the minister wants to know more about this, he is warmly welcome to Norberg. It is not such a long journey from Örebro. I can personally guide the way and let the Minister for Employment meet these companies so that they can develop it themselves. That would be nice.
I will not prolong the debate. But I still want, as a last straw, to ask the Minister: Can the people of Norberg who have lost their jobs due to the construction crisis, and those who are now worried about losing their jobs due to the construction crisis, hope for anything in the supplementary budget?
Matilda Ernkrans (S)
Madam Speaker! It is not possible to conclude the debate in any other way than the way I began it. The country's Minister for Employment should feel it as their responsibility to ensure that healthcare personnel and construction workers get to go to work instead of to the Public Employment Service.
It is about taking responsibility for the reality that he and his government themselves have created. Everything else is a betrayal of the people at home in Örebro län and in Sweden.
Liberals and Sweden Democrats simply seem to be a bad combination for ordinary people. I assert with determination that justice, respect, and common responsibility would have been better for Sweden and for ordinary people.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! First and foremost, I would like to thank you for the invitation to Norberg. I find great value in meeting people from small, medium-sized, and large companies. They are the heroes who, under hard pressure, ensure that employees are retained, because they know that the development can be reversed.
They invest in internal training and do things in the company to invest in the employees in other ways. They know that on the way forward for new investments, it is a matter of beating out inflation and getting the interest rate down. This is what Kjell-Olof Feldt knew. This is what I appeal to the Social Democrats to take home to their chamber and to their parliamentary group.
What is being heard now is new taxes on companies. There is a desire to raise various taxes that will have direct effects for small business owners on their interest rates in the long run. It is not the right path. This applies, for example, to the bank tax. Do you think that Sweden's small business owners do not have loans? They will be hit hard by your policy.
We foresee a situation where the regions will continue to have difficulties for a period of time, which is due to things that are somewhat outside their own control with the pension agreements. During the current year and during next year, there will be a cost increase beyond the normal. Therefore, we are now supporting the regions with resources.
There is talk of respect and responsibility. I turn to my long-time and valued colleague Matilda Ernkrans. We must nevertheless acknowledge that the Socialdemokraterna have governed this region for quite many years. They have done so for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 years. Now they are delivering these deficits.
The region has the right to tax. The region is responsible for how healthcare is organized. It is unfortunately running with a bleeding deficit in the Social Democrats' Örebro County.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.