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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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IMMIGRATION

Nordic countries urged to set common working from home rules

The Nordic countries should have common conditions on working from the place of residence, including working from home, to fulfil the objective of an integrated labour market, says a report by the region's Freedom of Movement Council.

Published: 25 September 2023 11:41 CEST
Nordic countries urged to set common working from home rules

The proposal is part of a series of recommendations to simplify tax agreements to facilitate free movement of people and make the region “the most integrated” in the world by 2030, as agreed by Nordic Prime Ministers.

The Freedom of Movement Council argues that the pandemic revealed the flaws in the current system, as a large proportion of cross-border workers had to operate from home, facing taxation in two countries, different tax levels and mounting bureaucracy.

“Now that more companies are open to their employees working from home, the current Nordic tax agreement just isn’t keeping up. I hope this analysis will pave the way for dialogue and that the end result will be simplification and less bureaucracy,” said Karen Ellemann, secretary-general of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Internationally less known than EU free movement rules, the region has a special agreement on free movement of people that dates back to the 1950s.

Under the Nordic Passport Union, citizens can move within the region without travel documents or residence permits and enjoy more rights than those granted to EU citizens within the European Union. Non-EU residents, however, only partially benefit as they do not have the automatic right to work in another Nordic state.

The Nordic free movement area covers Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands and Åland. Greenland is not part of the Passport Union but is in practice subject to some of its provisions.

The Nordic governments set up the Freedom of Movement Council as an independent body to identify obstacles to this principle and propose how to remove them.

In an interview with The Local, chair Siv Friðleifsdóttir said the Council has identified over 100 barriers to free movement and prioritised 30. The tax system is one of them.

“The Nordic countries currently have several agreements that regulate cross-border and remote working. Common to all of them is that they’re based on the countries’ need to protect their tax base,” the Council notes.

INTERVIEW:

The report, prepared by consultancies KPMG and Resonans Nordic, points at four problems in particular: rules for domestic work, registration obligations in more than one country for employers, as well as taxation of wages and pensions when working in another Nordic state.

The Council therefore proposes to set common conditions on “permanent establishment” when working in the country of residence, including from home. It also suggests to tax salaries in the country of employment and consider work from home in the country of residence equal to work in the country where the employer is located.

In addition, advance tax should be reported and collected in the employer’s country to avoid having different rules for the same salary.

Pension contributions should be mutually recognised as deductible in another Nordic states and returns taxed only under the legislation of the country where the pension plan is established, the Council argues.

In the Øresund region, between Denmark and Sweden, a fully integrated labour market could generate combined annual socio-economic gains of 2.9 billion Danish kroner, the report estimates.

“Our countries have a lot to gain from having a flexible common labour market. It can solve the problem of skills shortages in one country and the problem of unemployment in another. In other words, a functioning labour market is a strong catalyst for our countries’ economies,” says Siv Friðleifsdóttir, chair of the Freedom of Movement Council.

The full report is currently only available in Danish but translations are expected in the coming weeks.

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