Government newsletter: More young people in work
13 May 2013

More young people in work

Two young persons working in a kitchen Photo: Martina Huber/Government Offices

It is important that young people find jobs and become independent. The Government has implemented a number of reforms and initiatives to make it easier for young people to enter the labour market and these efforts are continuing.

The work-first principle is a Government priority. Having a job to go to is not just a matter of earning a living. It is also about feeling needed, belonging to a work community and developing as a person.

Nordic labour market summit in Stockholm

On 16 May, Sweden is hosting a Nordic labour market summit within the framework of Sweden's chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The employment ministers from the Nordic countries and the autonomous territories have been invited to Stockholm to participate in a panel debate on opportunities for young people to enter the labour market.

Sweden will be represented at the summit by Minister for Employment Hillevi Engström and Minister for Finance Anders Borg. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will also be taking part, together with his Nordic counterparts.

In connection with the labour market summit, the Job Forum for Young People will highlight and discuss various programmes that have made it easier for young people to establish themselves in the labour market.

Swedish labour market initiatives for young people

The Government has presented a number of measures to lower the thresholds encountered by young people seeking to enter the labour market. These include offering young unemployed people early initiatives, better matching with job vacancies and measures to encourage young people to get an education. Measures targeted at employers who take on young people are another example.

Tripartite talks - vocational introduction agreements: a new way into the labour market for young people

In the autumn of 2011 the Government invited the social partners to tripartite talks on how the labour market can become more inclusive and flexible. The aim was to find common solutions to problems in the labour market. The focus has been on creating more and broader paths into the labour market for young people using vocational introduction agreements whereby young people without any relevant experience in a profession are offered supervision and training during part of their working day.

These talks are now yielding tangible results. Vocational introduction agreements have been signed in a number of agreement areas and the Government is preparing proposals on wage subsidies and financial support for supervision to encourage employers to recruit young people under these vocational introduction agreements.

Support for information on vocational introduction agreements

The Government has decided to provide support for special information measures on vocational introduction agreements. By improving knowledge about the current and the coming vocational introduction agreements, the Government hopes that more people will become aware of this opportunity.

Pilot project: sector-specific vocational education and training for young people in cooperation with industry

The Government has given the Swedish Public Employment Service the task of creating a pilot project to develop cooperation with Teknikföretagen and IF Metall in recruitment and matching young people to vocational introduction jobs in industry lasting one year or more. In this pilot project it should be possible for young people's vocational introduction jobs to be combined with sector-specific vocational education and training provided by the Swedish Public Employment Service.

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