The Swedish Employment Agency

The plan states that welfare and societal service must exist everywhere and that privatizations have led to worse and unequal access to service depending on where you live. It demands targeted state support to rural areas and areas with high deprivation and full employment as a political goal. An employment agency with its own discretion and physical presence throughout the country, particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, thus aligns with the plan.

• public service throughout the countrydecisive»Välfärden måste vara till för alla och finnas överallt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Welfare must be for everyone and exist everywhere.”
• privatization worsens service»Privatiseringar har lett till dyrare elpris, att apoteken flyttar från landsbygd till städer och från fattiga till rika områden, att du har olika tillgång till vård, skola och omsorg beroende på var du bor, att det gått inflation i betygen och till en allt sämre kvalitet på service och välfärd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Privatizations have led to higher electricity prices, pharmacies moving from rural areas to cities and from poor to rich areas, that you have different access to care, school and care depending on where you live, that it has gone inflation in grades and to ever worse quality of service and welfare.”
• targeted support to disadvantaged areas»landsbygd och storstäders miljonprogramsområden.« (party programme ↗)“rural areas and major cities' million-programme areas.”
• full employment as goal»Ändå är det bara ett parti i riksdagen som har en politik för full sysselsättning – Vänsterpartiet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Yet there is only one party in the Riksdag that has a policy for full employment – Left Party.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The election manifesto establishes that the state shall be present throughout the country and that active labour market policy is particularly important in turbulent times, and that the unemployed in Sweden should primarily come into work. The party programme sees active labour market policy as the key to matching the unemployed to jobs. Requirements for continued physical presence and greater discretion for the authority to choose interventions follow from this, even though the authority's organisation is not explicitly addressed.

• state presence throughout the countrydecisive»Staten ska finnas närvarande i hela landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The state shall be present throughout the country.”
• active labour market policy»En aktiv arbetsmarknadspolitik för fler jobb är särskilt viktig i ekonomiskt oroliga tider.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“An active labour market policy for more jobs is particularly important in economically turbulent times.”
• interventions matched to individual needs»En aktiv arbetsmarknadspolitik gör det lättare för arbetslösa att hitta nya jobb och« (party programme ↗)“An active labour market policy makes it easier for the unemployed to find new jobs and”
• the unemployed in Sweden first»I första hand ska arbetslösa i Sverige komma i arbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In the first instance, the unemployed in Sweden should come into work.”

The plan explicitly states that public functions such as the employment agency should be available to all residents and be accessible throughout the country, which is the counter-proposal's requirement for physical presence. It also gives society responsibility to actively support individuals' path to employment through measures adapted to the person. The plan also wants to invest heavily in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and see equal efforts from the employment agency.

• authorities present throughout the countrydecisive»ska vara till för Sveriges alla invånare och finnas tillgängliga över hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“shall be available to all Sweden's residents and be accessible throughout the country.”
• individually adapted support for work»stödja individens möjligheter till arbete exempelvis« (party programme ↗)“support individuals' opportunities for employment for example”
• efforts in disadvantaged areas»storsatsa på det förebyggande arbetet i socioekonomiskt eftersatta områden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“invest heavily in preventive work in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.”
• equal efforts from the employment agency»stärk utrikesfödda kvinnors etablering genom SFI kombinerad med praktik och yrkesutbildning och jämställda insatser från arbetsförmedlingen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen immigrant women's establishment through Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) combined with internships and vocational training and equal efforts from the employment agency.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan requires that public service be close and reliable throughout the country and that everyone has the right to an effective matching service based on individual needs. The requirement for continued physical presence, especially in areas with socioeconomic challenges, aligns with this. The plan, however, is built on operations in large part being carried out by independent providers, which makes support for expanded government powers weak.

• close public servicedecisive»Offentlig service ska vara nära och pålitlig i hela landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Public service must be close and reliable throughout the country.”
• equal service nationwide»Alla invånare ska ha tillgång till en likvärdig och pålitlig välfärd oavsett var de bor, och den offentliga servicen ska finnas där när man behöver den.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All residents shall have access to equal and reliable welfare regardless of where they live, and public service must be there when needed.”
• effective matching for all»Alla ska ha rätt till en effektiv matchningstjänst och det ska bli lättare att hitta medarbetare inom alla yrken.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone shall have access to an effective matching service and it shall be easier to find staff in all professions.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's decisive commitment is that the employment agency's authority task clearly be separated from the provider role and that private actors shall develop matching. To instead give the authority more discretion to itself choose and carry out initiatives goes against that arrangement. The plan requires however state presence in all parts of the country, which supports the counter-proposal's demand for local presence; the position is therefore uncertain.

• authority task separated from executiondecisive»Arbetsförmedlingens myndighetsuppdrag ska tydligt skiljas från utförarrollen.« (party programme ↗)“The employment agency's authority task shall clearly be separated from the provider role.”
• private actors in matching»branschspecifika sådana, ska bidra till att utveckla matchningen på arbetsmarknaden.« (party programme ↗)“industry-specific ones, shall help develop matching on the labor market.”
• state presence throughout the country»Vägnätet ska fungera och statliga myndigheter ska finnas närvarande i alla delar av Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The road network shall function and state authorities shall be present throughout Sweden.”
• better support with clear demands»Arbetsförmedlingen, Försäkringskassan och socialtjänsten ska bli bättre i sitt stöd men också tydligare i förväntningen på att alla som kan ska försörja sig själva.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Employment Agency, the Social Insurance Agency, and social services shall become better in their support but also clearer in the expectation that all who can shall support themselves.”

flags: motstridiga_atagande

The plan's decisive commitment is that there should be a plurality of actors acting as employment brokers and that labour market policy should be based on the principle of subsidiarity with supporting measures. To instead give the authority greater freedom of action to choose measures itself goes against that direction. The requirement for physical presence across the country, on the other hand, has support in the plan's commitment to state service and local presence.

• plurality of employment brokersdecisive»bör finnas en mångfald av aktörer som agerar arbetsförmedlare« (party programme ↗)“there should be a plurality of actors acting as employment brokers”
• subsidiarity in labour market policy»Arbetsmarknadspolitiken måste också utgå från« (party programme ↗)“Labour market policy must also be based on”
• supporting measures»stödjande när så krävs, dock utan att skada ordinarie« (party programme ↗)“supporting when necessary, but without damaging regular”
• state presence across the country»inrätta fler statliga servicekontor« (2022 manifesto ↗)“establish more state service offices”

The plan chooses the market and independent actors' path: a plurality of actors is a prerequisite for renewal, and the central employment instrument is significantly reduced hiring costs, not a larger government apparatus. The counter-proposal instead wants to give the authority more discretion and expand its physical presence across the country, while the plan says that state spending shall decrease and that a large state produces a weaker society.

• plurality of actorsdecisive»En mångfald av aktörer är också en förutsättning för förnyelse och innovation.« (party programme ↗)“A plurality of actors is also a prerequisite for renewal and innovation.”
• cheaper to hire»Kraftigt sänka kostnaden för att anställa långtidsarbetslösa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Significantly reduce the cost of hiring the long-term unemployed”
• decreased state spending»Statens utgifter ska minska – vi ska stoppa slöseriet med skattepengar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“State spending shall decrease – we shall stop wasting tax money”
• limited state»En stor stat leder till ett svagare samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“A large state leads to a weaker society.”

The plan condemns the employment policy within the Public Employment Service as an integration activity with very weak results relative to costs and wants to scrap ineffective programmes. Giving the authority greater discretion and a continued mandate to strengthen presence in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas builds on precisely this activity. The plan instead wants the measures to be streamlined so they lead to real jobs and that priority for newly arrived migrants ceases.

• criticism of the Public Employment Servicedecisive»Tyvärr har arbetsmarknadspolitiken som bedrivs inom ramen för Arbetsförmedlingen och kommunerna i allt högre grad kommit att bli en integrationsverksamhet med mycket svagt utfall i förhållande till kostnaderna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Unfortunately, the employment policy conducted within the framework of the Public Employment Service and the municipalities has increasingly become an integration activity with very weak results relative to its costs.”
• scrap ineffective programmes»Avskaffa ineffektiva arbetsmarknads- och integrationsprogram som är skapade för att dölja arbetslöshet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Scrap ineffective employment and integration programmes created to hide unemployment”
• no priority for newly arrived migrants»Stoppa den positiva särbehandlingen av nyanlända vad gäller jobb och lägenheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop positive discrimination of newly arrived migrants regarding jobs and apartments”
• measures shall yield real jobs»Sverigedemokraterna vill anpassa arbetsmarknadsåtgärderna så att de på ett effektivt sätt ska leda till riktiga jobb.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want to adjust employment measures so that they effectively lead to real jobs.”