Labour market

The Government wants to raise pensions. The Government and the Working Group on Pensions have therefore proposed a number of pension measures in bills submitted to the Riksdag on 28 May. The Working Group on Pensions includes the governing parties – the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Green Party – and the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.

Listen to Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson talk about her continuing role as Minister for Employment, what challenges she sees ahead and which issue she will be addressing first.

On 4–5 April 2019, a Nordic conference on the future of work was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference focused on megatrends affecting the labour market in the future.

At the EU summit on 21–22 March, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and his EU colleagues agreed to offer the United Kingdom an extension until 22 May on condition that the British Parliament approves the withdrawal agreement next week. The heads of state and government also addressed the EU’s long-term climate strategy and the EU’s relationship with China.

When Prime Minister Stefan Löfven meets his colleagues in Brussels on 21–22 March, Brexit will dominate the meeting’s first day. The EU heads of state and government will also address the EU’s long-term climate strategy and discuss jobs, growth and competitiveness.

On 22 January, the ILO’s centenary was launched in Geneva. The centenary, which will run throughout 2019, focuses on the future of work and forms part of the ILO’s long-term strategy for creating a decent and sustainable working life worldwide.

Minister for Employment and Integration Ylva Johansson will take part in the signing ceremony in Madrid when Spain joins the Global Deal. This makes Spain the 100th partner, and the 20th government, to join the global partnership.

On 9 November 2018, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven met Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to hand over the Global Deal initiative.

Everyone who can work should work. More people need to learn Swedish faster and more people who need an education to find work should take the initiative to study. In its 2018 spring amending budget, the Government is therefore investing in strengthening paths to work for more people. The Government is also providing more resources for preventive efforts against sexual harassment in working life, regional safety representatives and summer jobs for more young people.

Supplying skills to the labour market, and to society at large, has been a recurring issue since the Government’s National Innovation Council started meeting in 2015. When the Council met on 28 May at Harpsund, the meeting opened with the issue of lifelong learning in the workplace.