Education, Work, Guidance in Sweden

4. Work in Sweden

4.1 The Labour Market in Sweden

For updated information about the general situation of the labour market in Sweden, see the website of the Swedish Public Employment Service (www.arbetsformedlingen.se).

4.1.1 Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen)

The Swedish Government and the Swedish Parliament have overarching responsibility for employment and overall labour market policy in Sweden.

The Swedish Public Employment Service has an important role in putting these policies into practice in order to facilitate a well-functioning labour market. The responsibility is to achieve the objectives and to carry out the tasks that the Government and the Parliament have entrusted to us.

The most important task of the Swedish Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) is to make it easier to match job seekers with job vacancies. The responsibility is to support and prepare job seekers to enable them to apply for and fill vacancies. Another important task is to safeguard the role of the unemployment insurance scheme by applying its rules in all instances.

The Employment Service's responsibilities also include facilitating and speeding up access to the labour market for vulnerable groups. The Employment Service also tries to counteract and prevent any discrimination in working life which is based on gender, ethnicity, religion and faith, disability and sexual orientation so that all job seekers have the same opportunities to obtain work.

The Swedish Public Employment Service consists of 68 labour market regions which is brought together with four market areas, with a central head office. In total, some 10.000 persons are employed by the Swedish Public Employment Service.

4.1.2 Services and Channels

The Swedish Public Employment Service aims to help employers find employees and those seeking jobs to find employment. These services are offered by way of Internet services at www.arbetsformedlingen.se, Customer Services (phone nr: +46(0)771 416 416) and the local public employment services.

The services provided are:

  1. Job hunting

  2. Improving your job hunting skills

  3. Job counselling

  4. Preparatory training for work

  5. Starting your own business

  6. Clarifying your chances

  7. Adjusting your situation

  8. Recruiting new staff

  9. Training for recruitment

The form of these nine services has been designed so that job seekers and employers can be offered or informed about them at any Employment Office, whether or not the entire range of services is available at every local office.

Based on the requirements of each job seeker or employer, the Employment Office decides whether and how a particular service may be offered.

4.1.3 Counselling within the Swedish Public Employment Service

The job counselling service is an important instrument for fulfilling the tasks of Swedish Public Employment Service in the area of labour market policies. The objective of the service is to enable the job seeker to relate his/her resources, experience and desires to the demands and possibilities of the labour market, in order to make a well-founded choice of work and/or training. The overall objective is to increase the available labour force, enhance geographic and professional mobility, and to diminish unemployment.

Employment officers with a counselling role in Swedish Public Employment Service need to be able to review the situation to decide on a complex matter. Based on each individual's resources, the counsellor has to discern possible jobs and training opportunities, and then motivate the job seeker to make well-founded choices.

As well as introducing Internet-based tools, and ensuring that the job seeker is capable of using them, the counsellor will also be able to offer group and/or individual counselling. These methods are quality-assured in order to guarantee their uniform quality within our organisation.

4.1.4 Availability of Counselling within the Swedish Public Employment Service

Information on professions and courses of study is available to all interested parties on our public website www.arbetsformedlingen.se. The telephone-based Customer Service offers anyone interested support and an introduction on how to use the Internet-based information about professions and studies.

Some of the services available at the Employment Office are only available if you are registered there as a job seeker. The range of services available will depend on the needs of each individual job seeker. The Employment Office decides what services or programs to deploy, balancing the job seeker's needs with the demands and possibilities of the labour market.

4.2 EURopean Employment Services – EURES

Sweden is part of the common European labour market, because of the membership in the European Union and some other bilateral agreements. The Swedish Employment Service is involved in the EURopean Employment Services network – EURES.

The objective of the EURES network is to promote mobility of the workforce on the European labour market, while supporting the goals of each national Employment Service. EURES plays an important role in identifying surpluses and shortages of labour in various sectors, efforts to reduce bottleneck situations being one of the most important tasks of the EURES network. The network can also contribute to improved possibilities for employment for some individuals, especially young people, by offering the possibility to get work experience in foreign countries.

Matching job seekers with jobs and recruiting workers to and from Sweden are integral parts of the efforts of the Employment Service, covered by the general principles for the provision of services on the Website, by Customer Service and by the local Employment Office.

Specialised services are available from trained employment officers, EURES advisers. There are approximately 40 EURES advisers in Sweden, and around 700 in the entire EU/EEA area with Switzerland. Contact information to EURES advisers in Sweden and abroad can be found on the EURES portal http://ec.europa.eu/eures EURES advisers provide the three basic EURES services of information, guidance and placement, to both job seekers and employers interested in the European job market. They have developed specialised expertise in the practical, legal and administrative matters relating to mobility on the national level, across the borders. They work within the Public Employment Service of each member country, or within other partner organisations in the EURES network.

4.3 Looking for Work in Sweden

Citizens of EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, including family members, do not need a work permit to be employed in Sweden. Within 3 months they must register with the immigration authorities, Migrationsverket, by phoning +46 (0)771 235 235 or through www.migrationsverket.se. Citizens from countries outside the EU/EEA area or Switzerland must obtain a work permit, to be applied for and granted before entering Sweden to take up employment. An assessment of the labour market is made in each individual case. More information is available at the Swedish embassies and consulates abroad, or by contacting Migrationsverket.

On the EURES portal (http://ec.europa.eu/eures) vacancies and information on working and living conditions in Sweden and other member countries can be found, as well as the possibility to have your CV registered and available in almost all of Europe. If more services are needed, a EURES adviser can be contacted. Information on how to contact EURES advisers in Sweden and abroad can be found on the EURES portal.

The Internet website of the National Labour Market Administration, www.arbetsformedlingen.se is another useful source when looking for work in Sweden. Here job seekers will find the vacancies available in Sweden and employers can advertise for employees. Customer Services can also be contacted, telephone +46 (0)771-416 416. Job seekers may also visit a Local Public Employment Service.

4.4 Web addresses related to work in Sweden:

Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communication; www.sweden.gov.se

The Swedish Public Employment Service: www.arbetsformedlingen.se.

The EURES portal: http://ec.europa.eu/eures

The Swedish Migration Board: www.migrationsverket.se

Confederation of Swedish Enterprise; www.svensktnaringsliv.se/english

List of Swedish companies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_companies

The Swedish Trade Council; www.swedishtrade.se/english

The Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations, SACO; www.saco.se/templates/StandardPage.aspx?id=2243&epslanguage=SV

Salaried employees' National Association, TCO; www.tco.se/Templates/Page2____2319.aspx

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO; www.lo.se/home/lo/home.nsf/uni...

The Union of Service and Communication Employees, SEKO; www.seko.se

The Union of Civil Servants, ST; www.st.org/st-in-english

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