Introduction of new arrivals

On Monday 9 November, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson will take part in a ministerial meeting on integration in Vienna. Austrian Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz has invited all European ministers responsible for integration issues to the Vienna Future Talks – Visions for Integration: Social Cohesion.

On Thursday, 22 October, Germany's Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, visited Sweden and had a meeting with the Minister for Employment, Ylva Johansson, and the Minister for Justice and Migration, Morgan Johansson. The aim was to exchange experiences on the occasion of the refugee situation in Europe.

One of our greatest challenges in society is how we can become better at harnessing the skills and experience of people who were born abroad. The current situation demands that the Government, public authorities and companies take new action to identify possibilities for more new arrivals to enter working life. The Government wants to work together with companies that are prepared to employ at least 100 new arrivals to create opportunities based on the conditions and needs of each company.

Sweden and Europe are in the midst of an enormous task in providing security to people fleeing war, persecution and oppression. The Swedish asylum system is facing major challenges, as the number of people who have sought asylum in Sweden has increased dramatically. In this serious situation, the Government, the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats have agreed on necessary measures to reinforce capacity in Sweden’s reception of asylum seekers and strengthen the introduction of new arrivals.

In the Budget Bill for 2016, the Government is investing in better job matching and skills development through measures to promote an active labour market policy for people who are long-term unemployed or have impairments that entail reduced working capacity. The Government is also investing in a significant raise in the compensation paid to municipalities for their reception of refugees, and more effective measures to introduce newly arrived immigrants to the labour market. Under the Government’s proposal, the investments in the labour market area presented by the Government in the spring amending budget for 2015 will continue. The Budget Bill is based on an agreement between the government parties and the Left Party.

Stockholm – 18 September 2015.

On 16 June, the Riksdag passed the Government’s Spring Amending Budget, which means that previously announced labour market policy proposals in the budget – including trainee jobs and education contracts for young people, reforms to facilitate the introduction of newly arrived immigrants, and a rise in the ceiling for unemployment benefits – will now be put into practice. Today the Government took the next step in implementing these reforms, in part by deciding on several ordinances.

On 9–12 June, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson will visit Canada. The purpose of the visit is to exchange knowledge and experience on efforts concerning the establishment of new arrivals.

In the Budget Bill for 2015, the Government is taking several initiatives to tackle youth unemployment, including a 90-day guarantee for young people, trainee jobs and education contracts. The Government is also proposing initiatives to meet the challenges of modern working life, a higher ceiling for unemployment benefits, improved public employment services, earlier disbursement of resources for the EU employment initiative and 'extra jobs'. The Government also intends to lower the allowance paid to workplaces accepting apprentices in phase 3 of the job and development guarantee programme.

In the spring amending budget for 2015, the Government proposes initiatives for a modern and sustainable working life, trainee jobs and education contracts for young people, and a historic initiative for unemployment insurance. The Government also proposes initiatives to make it easier for newly arrived immigrants (new arrivals) to establish themselves in the labour market.