Labour market test

The plan asserts that labour migration shall be based on secure conditions and socio-economic needs, not on the employer's own assessment. It wants all employees to be protected by strong collective agreements and sees the exploitation of vulnerable workers as something that drives down wages and conditions for everyone. A labour market test where authorities and the parties assess the need directly answers that line.

• secure conditions and societal needsdecisive»Arbetskraftsinvandringen ska bygga på trygga villkor och« (party programme ↗)“Labour migration shall be based on secure conditions and”
• collective agreements for all»anställda i Sverige ska skyddas av starka kollektivavtal.« (party programme ↗)“employees in Sweden shall be protected by strong collective agreements.”
• against wage pressure through vulnerability»När människors utsatta situation utnyttjas pressas allas våra löner och våra möjligheter ner.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“When people's vulnerable situation is exploited, all our wages and our opportunities are driven down.”
• the parties' model role»för att förhandlingarna ska vara rättvisa behöver politiken respektera den svenska modellen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“for negotiations to be fair, policy must respect the Swedish model”

The plan explicitly wants to introduce a labour market test and establishes that those unemployed in Sweden shall first and foremost come into work, which is exactly what the counter-proposal demands. The plan also says that labour immigration shall be need-driven and regulated by the labour market parties, which corresponds to testing together with the parties. The reasoning – that current arrangements lead to people being exploited and conditions being dumped – also exists in the plan.

• labour market testdecisive»Vi vill införa en arbetsmarknadsprövning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to introduce a labour market test.”
• existing workforce first»I första hand ska arbetslösa i Sverige komma i arbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“First and foremost, those unemployed in Sweden shall come into work.”
• parties regulate the need»Arbetskraftsinvandring som är behovsstyrd och regleras av arbetsmarknadens parter.« (party programme ↗)“Labour immigration that is need-driven and regulated by the labour market parties.”
• prevent exploitation»Dessutom leder dagens arbetskraftsinvandring ofta till att människor utnyttjas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Moreover, current labour immigration often leads to people being exploited.”

The plan establishes that Sweden should be a country open to labour immigration and that that opportunity strengthens both the individual and Sweden. A labour market test that only allows recruitment when no one is available in the country cuts directly against that openness. The plan instead wants to meet wage dumping and exploitation with strong action against employers that exploit labour, within the framework of the Swedish model.

• open labour immigrationdecisive»Sverige ska vara ett land som är öppet för arbetskraftsinvandring.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should be a country open to labour immigration.”
• labour immigration strengthens Sweden»enskilde personen och bidrar till att göra Sverige starkare.« (party programme ↗)“the individual and contributes to making Sweden stronger.”
• address exploiting employers»Det krävs krafttag mot arbetsgivare som exploaterar utländsk« (party programme ↗)“Strong action is needed against employers that exploit foreign”
• the bipartite model is safeguarded»Miljöpartiet värnar den svenska modellen, där fackföreningar och arbetsgivare« (party programme ↗)“The Green Party safeguards the Swedish model, where trade unions and employers”

The plan explicitly says that labour immigration should be valued and that companies must quickly be able to find and hire the right expertise, and that policy must not fail businesses that cannot manage without it. An authority-driven labour market test does the opposite and puts the needs assessment somewhere other than with the employer. The plan therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's requirement.

• value labour immigrationdecisive»Värna arbetskraftsinvandringen. För att svenska företag ska kunna konkurrera måste de ha möjlighet att snabbt hitta, rekrytera och anställa rätt kompetens.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Value labour immigration. For Swedish companies to be able to compete, they must have the opportunity to quickly find, recruit and hire the right expertise.”
• business's expertise needs»Politiken får inte svika alla de företag som inte klarar sig utan arbetskraftsinvandring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Policy must not fail all those companies that cannot manage without labour immigration.”
• no to protectionism»Sverige behöver mer frihandel och internationellt samarbete, inte protektionism och stängda gränser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden needs more free trade and international cooperation, not protectionism and closed borders.”
• free movement across borders»Centerpartiet vill fortsätta att avlägsna de hinder som finns för enskilda människors rörlighet i världen.« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party wants to continue removing the obstacles that exist for individual people's mobility in the world.”

The plan wants more skilled people to be attracted to labor migration, that more qualified labor migration comes to Sweden and that competence deportations cease. It also wants to strengthen the possibility for self-supporting third-country citizens to immigrate. An authority and party-controlled labor market test that conditions every recruitment goes against that line.

• welcome labor migrationdecisive»Fler kunniga människor ska lockas att arbetskraftsinvandra till vårt land och bidra till vårt« (party programme ↗)“More skilled people shall be attracted to labor migration to our country and contribute to our”
• more qualified immigration»Det behövs mer kvalificerad arbetskraftsinvandring till vårt land.« (party programme ↗)“More qualified labor migration to our country is needed.”
• more generous work permits»Tillfälliga arbetstillstånd ska kunna ges för en längre period än i dag. Kompetensutvisningarna av högkvalificerad arbetskraft måste få ett slut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Temporary work permits shall be able to be given for a longer period than today. Competence deportations of highly qualified labor must come to an end.”
• mobility for self-supporting»tredjelandsmedborgare som tar ansvar för sin egen försörjning att invandra till EU och mellan« (party programme ↗)“third-country citizens who take responsibility for their own support to immigrate to the EU and between”

The election manifesto establishes that strict immigration policy is required, and the party programme emphasizes that people's own will and capacity for self-support shall be utilized and that full employment is an important political goal. A test of whether the workforce exists in the country before labor immigration is permitted is in line with these commitments, and that the assessment is made together with labor market parties corresponds to the plan's view of the parties' role. The plan's requirement for general means in economic policy pulls the other way at the same time, which is why the certainty is low.

• strict immigration policydecisive»Stram migrationspolitik krävs för att ta itu med integrationsproblem och utanförskap.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strict immigration policy is required to address integration problems and exclusion.”
• existing workforce is utilized»vilja och förmåga till egenförsörjning ska tas tillvara.« (party programme ↗)“will and capacity for self-support shall be utilized.”
• full employment»Därför är full sysselsättning ett viktigt politiskt mål.« (party programme ↗)“Therefore full employment is an important political goal.”
• the parties' role»Utformningen ska göras av arbetsmarknadens parter.« (party programme ↗)“The design shall be done by the labor market parties.”

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 wants Sweden to be a country people seek out to work and run businesses in, and wants competence-based deportations stopped, not authorities and parties to examine each recruitment need. A labour market test adds exactly the bureaucracy the plan promises to cut. The plan's answer to competence needs is instead education and coordination within the country.

• open path to work and enterprisedecisive»vara ett land dit man vill söka sig för att arbeta, driva företag« (party programme ↗)“be a country people want to come to to work, run a business”
• value competence-based immigration»Sätta stopp för kompetensutvisningarna« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop competence-related deportations”
• less bureaucracy in recruitment»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove one-third of companies' administrative costs and one-third of regulatory burden”
• competence provision through education»Få på plats en nationell samordning över samhällets behov av antalet utbildningsplatser för att förbättra kompetensförsörjningen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Get in place national coordination of society's needs for the number of training places to improve competence provision”

The counter-proposal requires that work permits can only be issued when no suitable person is found in the country, assessed through a labour market test. The election manifesto explicitly commits to introducing a real labour market test to prevent employers importing cheap labour for low-skilled occupations, and the party programme states that labour market needs shall be met primarily with domestic labour. The demand is therefore the plan's own position.

• real labour market testdecisive»För arbetstillstånd behöver Sverige införa en riktig arbetsmarknadsprövning för att förhindra att arbetsgivare importerar billig arbetskraft från fattiga länder för att utföra yrken som kräver liten eller ingen utbildning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For work permits, Sweden needs to introduce a real labour market test to prevent employers from importing cheap labour from poor countries to perform occupations that require little or no education.”
• stopped unnecessary labour migration»Stoppa arbetskraftsinvandring till yrken som kan tillgodoses av inhemsk arbetskraft« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop labour migration to occupations that can be met by domestic labour”
• domestic labour first»arbetsmarknadens behov först och främst skall tillgodoses med inhemsk arbetskraft.« (party programme ↗)“labour market needs shall be met primarily with domestic labour.”
• existing unemployment should be used»Många sådana arbeten bör kunna utföras av de hundratusentals arbetslösa som redan bor i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many such jobs could be performed by the hundreds of thousands of unemployed already living in Sweden.”

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.