Ministry of Employment

The Government wants newly arrived immigrants in Sweden to quickly find a workplace that is relevant to the individual’s education and experience. At the same time, there is a shortage of labour in many industries; these are now being helped with the provision of skills through the creation of fast tracks by the Swedish Public Employment Service and the industries, to make it easier for newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves in the labour market.

Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’), abbreviated as the Enforcement Directive, was adopted on 15 May 2014.

Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’), abbreviated as the Enforcement Directive, was adopted on 15 May 2014.

On 19–20 May, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson will take part in an informal ministerial meeting in Vienna on fair and decent conditions in the labour market. The meeting is a follow-up of the ministerial meeting Ms Johansson hosted in Stockholm in September 2015 on fair and decent working conditions in the EU internal market.

Today, the OECD presented its report Working Together: Skills and Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and their Children in Sweden on integration in the Swedish labour market and in Swedish society. The report shows that Sweden has a highly developed and sustainable policy for reception and introduction, but that the large number of asylum seekers who arrived in 2015 has created new challenges.

The Inquiry on the posting of foreign workers to Sweden makes a number of proposals to safeguard the Swedish labour market model and status of collective agreements in situations involving posted workers. The proposals are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2017.

At a press conference on Friday 13 May at Rosenbad, the OECD will present its report on integration in the Swedish labour market, Working Together: Skills and Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and their Children in Sweden. Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson will comment on the OECD report’s assessment and recommendations. Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD, will also take part in the press conference.

The Government's work environment policy is to contribute to a work environment that prevents ill health, accidents and people being excluded from working life. Work environment management must take into account people's differing circumstances and contribute to the development of both individuals and operations.

In the spring amending budget for 2016, the Government is strengthening efforts to enable newly arrived immigrants to quickly and efficiently establish themselves in Sweden. The Government is investing in early measures for asylum seekers and increased funds for county administrative boards to create preparedness and reception capacity in municipalities. The Government is also announcing that trainee jobs will be expanded to also cover newly arrived immigrants and people who are long-term unemployed. The spring amending budget for 2016 is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.