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WORKING IN SWEDEN

Over 35,000 summer jobs still available in Sweden

Students and other people looking for summer jobs in Sweden shouldn't give up just yet - there are over 35,000 positions still to be filled, according to the Public Employment Service.

Published: 16 May 2023 15:14 CEST
Over 35,000 summer jobs still available in Sweden
Jobseekers at the Public Employment Service in Malmö. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

“The labour market is so far showing resilience in the economic climate and employers need to hire new people,” said Alva Johansson, labour market analyst at the Public Employment Service.

“Staff is above all needed in the healthcare sector, but also in industry and trade.”

The majority of employers want applicants to have completed upper high school – an equivalent of a Swedish gymnasieskola education.

“My best tips now is to take contact directly with employers who interest you. Tell them you’re interested in working there and what you can offer,” said Omid Rahmanian, job application expert at the Public Employment Service.

Although many foreigners in Sweden need a work permit to work in the country, EU citizens and non-EU citizens here on other permits, such as student permits or permits as accompanying family members, are able to work without needing to apply for a work permit first.

For these groups, a summer job can be a valuable way to gain work experience in Sweden, create a professional network and perhaps even land a permanent job.

Other tips for applying for summer jobs listed by the Public Employment Service include contacting employers directly to let them know how you can be of use to them and why you’re interested in working for them, as well as concrete examples for what you could help them with in a summer job.

They might, for instance, have a lot of customers who speak English, or another language you’re fluent in, where not being Swedish could be an asset. 

It’s also a good idea to research the place you’re applying to, so you can make a good impression in your first contact.

Summer jobs can also be a good way to try something new – maybe you have qualifications from your home country which aren’t recognised in Sweden, or maybe you just fancy a change?

Here are the most common job titles among 125,000 summer jobs advertised by the Public Employment Service between December 2022 and April this year:

  • assistant nurses in home care, care homes and rehabilitation: 27,124 jobs
  • healthcare assistant: 13,489 jobs
  • mechanic: 6720 jobs
  • carer, home carer: 5922 jobs
  • retail worker, specialist trade: 4599 jobs

You can see the Public Employment Service’s list of summer jobs here.

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WORKING IN SWEDEN

How many immigrants are overqualified for their jobs in Sweden?

Sweden is one of many European countries struggling with 'brain waste', a situation where immigrants struggle to find suitable full-time work or are overqualified for their roles due to their education not being recognised.

Published: 23 April 2024 15:57 CEST
How many immigrants are overqualified for their jobs in Sweden?

The findings are part of an investigation by Lighthouse Reports, the Financial Times, El País and Unbias The News which found that most European countries fail to provide good job opportunities to educated foreigners – potentially at the cost of their labour forces and economies.

“While the results differ slightly between labour market outcomes, a consistent pattern emerges: immigrants lag behind natives everywhere, but brain waste is worst in Southern Europe, Norway, and Sweden,” the report read.

One of the metrics used to measure brain waste was the proportion of foreign residents who were overqualified for their role.

In Sweden, 32 percent of university-educated Swedes were overqualified for their roles, according to their report, while 68 percent of immigrants educated abroad were overqualified for their job.

The report didn’t study native Swedes with foreign diplomas, but one thing to note is that immigrants who obtained their qualifications in Sweden were far less likely to be overqualified than those who got their degrees outside of Sweden.

For immigrants with a degree from Sweden, 35 percent were overqualified (the difference to native Swedes was not statistically significant).

The results are not surprising, and the problem of well-educated immigrants not being able to work in their chosen profession has been raised on multiple occasions – for example in connection with Sweden’s new work permit salary threshold squeezing out highly-qualified foreigners.

An OECD report found as early as 2014 that a much bigger proportion of highly-educated foreign-born people in Sweden were overqualified for their roles, compared to the native population.

“Given the large number of Swedish immigrants who obtained their education and work experience abroad, there is a strong need for efficient and credible recognition of their qualifications and validation of informal competences,” urged the OECD report at the time.

But the Lighthouse Reports study pointed out that the figures for Sweden pointed to a systemic problem across the entire labour market, which doesn’t only affect well-educated immigrants.

“Once we look at metrics of brain waste that are not dependent on education, such as under-employment and unemployment, the large gaps in Southern Europe (and Sweden) reappear. This indicates that these countries struggle to integrate migrants into the labour market in general, not just college-educated migrants,” it read.

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