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UNEMPLOYMENT

Jobless Swedes told to look for work abroad

With unemployment reaching double digits in some parts of northern Sweden, job seekers are being encouraged to look for work in other countries.

Jobless Swedes told to look for work abroad
Some Swedish job seekers think call centre could be appealing

Unemployment in Västernorrland County in northern Sweden has reached 9 percent, while the jobless rate in the town of Sollefteå has hit 12 percent, according to a report by Sveriges Radio (SR).

In an effort to get more Swedes back in the workforce, the local branch of Sweden’s National Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) in Örnsköldsvik is encouraging people to look for work outside of Sweden.

“If people have a hard time finding work at home it can be good to move where the jobs are,” Lena Lundkvist of the local Örnsköldsvik employment office told The Local.

“Getting experience elsewhere can then help your chances of getting a job when you get back.”

In order to help Swedes find work in other countries, Lundkvist’s office is organising a one-day seminar titled “European Job Days”.

Scheduled to take place on November 17th, the job fair will feature representatives from Spain, Norway, the UK, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

The event, arranged in cooperation with the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES), will provide information about living and working abroad and other “valuable information” for people thinking about working or studying in another country.

Nineteen-year-old Andreas from Örnsköldsvik told SR he wants to find work before pursuing further education and viewed working in the Czech Republic as an exciting prospect.

“A call centre job wouldn’t be totally foreign for me. And there’s also plenty of good beer in the Czech Republic,” he told the radio programme.

Lundkvist said that interest in finding work in other countries has increased substantially in recent years, with Sweden’s high unemployment rate being one of the factors behind the rising popularity of looking abroad for jobs.

“If there are jobs elsewhere in Europe, we should be telling people about them,” she said, explaining that as one of 55 representatives for EURES in Sweden, her job is to promote mobility within a unified European job market.

According to Lundkvist, prospective employers in other countries look favourbly on Swedish workers.

“Swedes have an excellent reputation as good workers,” she said.

While acknowledging that working abroad has certain benefits, Thomas Carlén, a labour economist with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) who studies youth unemployment, warned that promoting jobs in other countries was probably not the best way to address youth unemployment in Sweden, which he described as a “major problem”.

“That’s not the right message to be sending people, that they should give up on the Swedish job market and look for work abroad instead,” he told The Local.

“I don’t see anything wrong with helping people learn more about how to seek employment in other countries, but that shouldn’t be seen as the solution.”

Instead, argued Carlén, more energy should be focused on reforming education and labour market policies in Sweden so that it’s easier for young people to find jobs at home.

He explained that half of Sweden’s unemployed youth are students who are unable to find part time work in Sweden. Carlén also pointed out that 25 percent of Swedish young people leave high school without a diploma, which hampers their ability to find work.

“Swedish schools and the labour market need to work in a way that ensures that more young people find work in Sweden,” he said.

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BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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