Arbetskraftsinvandring

2023-03-22

List of Labour Shortage in Sweden – 2023

Team Permizon Arbetstillstånd Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd

The need for new competent employees is not limited to a certain industry, sector, company size or geographical area. The shortage of cooks, plumbers and construction workers is as critical as the shortage of healthcare workers and IT technicians. At both companies, municipalities and county councils, challenges with the provision of skills are high on the agenda, but it does not seem that the Swedish government has realized this.

Every year, a list of the shortages is compiled. This is done by the Swedish Migration Agency in consultation with the Employment Service, the Swedish Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is a list of types of work in which there is a high demand for labour. You can find the latest edition here.

The Swedish Migration Agency’s regulations on the list of species of jobs in which there is a high demand for labour

Decided on 5 December 2022.
Source: Swedish Migration Agency

List according to ch. 5 Section 12 of the Aliens Ordinance (2006:97) on types of work in which there is a high demand for labour.

Basic nurses
Biomedical Analysts
Breeders and caretakers of farm animals
Building and ventilation sheet metal worker
Bus and tram drivers
Butcher, slicer
Butlers and waiters
Chefs, head chefs and sous chefs
Civil engineering professions in construction and civil engineering
Civil engineering professions in mechanical engineering
Cleaner
Concrete worker
Construction machine operator
Construction worker
Dental hygienists
Dentist
District nurses
Elementary school teacher
Engineers and technicians in construction
Environmental and health protection inspectors
Flooring
Geriatrics nurses
Industrial electrician
Installation and service electrician
Interpreters and translators
Masons and tilers
Medical Secretaries and Care Administrators
Midwives
Motor vehicle mechanics and vehicle repairers
Nurses in emergency healthcare
Nursing shoes
Occupational therapists
Operating room nurses
Operator of agricultural and forestry machinery
Painter
Pediatric nurses and school nurses
Physiotherapists
Plumbers
Preschool teacher
Process operators in manufacturing
Process supervisor in the chemical industry
Property manager
Psychiatric nurses
Psychologists
Scaffold builder
Software and system developer
Specialist doctor
System Administrator
System product analysts and IT architects
Teacher in vocational subjects
Welders and gas cutters
Woodworkers and carpenters
X-ray nurses

How can we help?
Do you feel that you would rather spend time on other things in the business and at the same time minimize the risk of mistakes in the application process? Then you are welcome to contact us at Permizon.
We offer a comprehensive service for handling applications for work permits. The service covers everything mentioned above plus a little more. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more. You can either call us or fill out the form on this page.

2023-03-22

Make Sweden Attractive Again!

Team Permizon Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd, Kompetensförsörjning Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd, kompetensförsörjning, work permit, workpermitsweden

Many parties have gone to elections with slogans like “limit immigration!”. In the political rhetoric, it is discussed as limiting asylum immigration and making it more difficult to cheat with work permits, but in practice there seems to be a complete lack of understanding of what reality looks like for those affected by the political reforms.

We do not want to debate asylum immigration, but instead stick to our area of expertise, which is work permits, but can state that there are fundamental differences. The most obvious is that one costs society (at least initially) and that the other one pays off right from day one.

Instead of working with policy that is focused on a certain area, the legislator raises the walls all over the board and continuously reduces the opportunities for Swedish companies and authorities to hire the skills they need, while at the same time, through increasingly complicated legislation, the time it takes to the employer to get the go-ahead for his newfound competence.

We also have politicians who talk about exceptions for, among other things, assistant nurses, a professional group that carries a large part of healthcare on their shoulders and who are largely immigrants, but at the same time are not aware that the professional title of assistant nurse will become a protected title already under 2023, well before the new legislation can reasonably be in place. In the meantime, we have a European neighboring country that actively attracts foreign healthcare expertise by offering incentives to come to the country, become nationally qualified to practice their profession, and then contribute to expanding the country’s pool of healthcare professionals. The same trip in Sweden would usually have taken several years and required hundreds of kroner, just for the chance to work in Sweden in a profession that the country has a huge shortage of.

The moderate-led alliance made major reforms to the laws governing labor immigration in 2008. It was a more liberal system that put the employer at the center. It may not have been perfect, but it was certainly well thought out. Today we see reports left and right about how we need to work on our competitiveness to prevent all competence from landing in our neighboring countries. However, our government seems to turn a blind eye to it and continues to build its walls with blinders on. This despite the fact that in the past six months we have already seen how our immigrant skills are starting to look at alternatives in other, more attractive countries.

Our appeal to those in power is to change course regarding labor immigration.

– Simplify the regulations

– Work long-term

– Focus on follow-up checks to prevent fraud and unscrupulous employers

Labor Shortage List – Sweden 2023

Team Permizon

How can we help?
Do you feel that you would rather spend time on other things in the business and at the same time minimize the risk of mistakes in the application process? Then you are welcome to contact us at Permizon.
We offer a comprehensive service for handling applications for work permits. The service covers everything mentioned above plus a little more. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more. You can either call us or fill out the form on this page.

2022-03-19

5 tips when applying for a work permit [2024]

Team Permizon Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd

Updated: November 2023

Applying for a work permit can be a smooth experience even if you don’t have prior knowledge of the application process or legislation, but there are also a lot of things can go wrong. According to statistics for the first months of 2023 as many as 39% of applications for work permit in Sweden were rejected.

Some rejections are due to things that could have easily been avoided or simple to find information about, while other things are hidden in internal government documents and rarely explained unless you have already had your application rejected. In this post, we highlight the most essential things to keep in mind before applying for a work permit:

1. Advertise Correctly

The employer decides who to employ, but the position has to be advertised for at least 10 days prior to starting the application process for the work permit.
There is no law that dictates where it must be advertised, but it is up to the employer to prove that the advertisement reaches everyone in the EU/EEA.
If you primarily use Linkedin or similar channels for advertising, we always recommend that you also post an advertisement on the website of the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen’s Platsbanken).
If a person is already in Sweden on a work permit and is changing positions at a company or changing employer, the position may still need to be advertised.

2. Plan the start of the employment

When hiring someone on a work permit you want to know approximately when you will have access to your employee but there are quite a few unknowns. Using a new process for work permit applications should reduce the waiting time significantly. The reduced waiting time is only for certain occupations and certain companies. The application has to be complete and correct in order to be processed faster.
The Swedish Migration Agency has a tool for approximate processing times for a decision. It is based on previous statistics for the same type of residence permit and is updated at regular intervals. Unfortunately, the statistics rarely correspond well with reality, so it is recommended to consult someone with experience in the work permit process to get a rough estimate.
It is recommended to add some extra time to the estimation as your future employee might have to wait for a residence permit card before they can travel to Sweden. After a positive decision has been made, the residence permit card is produced and sent to the Swedish embassy that is closest to your employee. Production and shipping usually takes 2 – 3 weeks.

3. A time limited work permit

If it’s a first time application the work permit will almost certainly be time limited. The work permit is normally limited to 2 years at a time but there are exceptions.
Exception 1: The length of employment. If the employment is limited to a shorter time than 2 years, the work permit will be limited to the same time period. If an employment is permanent (Swedish: tillsvidareanställning) but contains a probationary period, the work permit can be limited to the length of the probationary period, which usually makes up the first 6 months of the employment. The Swedish migration Agency has been a bit inconsistent in how they handle probationary periods, but it’s definitely worth keeping in mind!
Exception 2: The expiration date of the employee’s passport.
If the passport is not valid for a time of at least 2 years, the work permit will be limited because of it. In that situation the work permit will be limited to the expiry date of the passport. The first day of the work permit is usually the day of the decision, so that’s when you should be counting the 2 years from. If you have been waiting a long time for a decision and there is less than 2 years left on your passport, it may be worthwhile to update your passport and send the Migration Agency a copy of it.
Remember to start the application for the extension of the work permit in good time before it expires and always check the passport’s expiry date before you apply! Also, don’t start it too early or it might not be processed at all! (you shouldn’t submit an application more than 6 months before your current work permit expires)

4. The salary

Starting on the 1st of November 2023 there is a minimum wage applied to most work permit applications. The current minimum wage is 27 360 SEK/month and should remain the same until mid June 2024. Please refer to this article for more details: The minimum wage for a work permit in Sweden (Update)
Other than the minimum salary mentioned above, the salary must also be at a competitive (market) level or on a level similar to a collective bargaining agreement for the industry and role in question. If the comapny doesn’t have a colletive bargaining agreement, the employer is expected to prove that the salary is on par with similar jobs in Sweden or to accept the Swedish Migration Agency’s assessment.
If your company has a collective bargainging agreement there shouldn’t be a question about it as the union will make an utterance in regards to the details outlined in the work permit application.

5. Insurances

For most work permits the employer need to get personell insurances with coverage for health, life and accidents or work-related injuries. For most industries you are also obliged to have a work pension insurance.
Some insurance policies only cover a certain type of employee. A distinction is made between blue-collar (Swedish: arbetare) and white-collar (Swedish: tjänsteman) workers.
A good example to use is the insurance package from Fora. The package covers all necessary insurances for someone working in construction or as a chef, but if the employee is an accountant they will only have very limited coverage (accident/injury and possibly life insurance). If you were to hire a chef using Fora’s insurance package, you would be good to go, but if you hire an accountant you would need to get 2 or 3 of the insurances from a different insurance comapny.
The recommendation is to contact your insurance company in good time. If you have group insurances, you should check if both blue-collar and white-collar employees are covered by the insurance. It is also a good idea to check if the insurance company has specific requirements, such as if the insured have to have been registered in the population registry for two years before they can make use of the insurance.
Many insurances require that a person has a Swedish personal identity number (Swedish: personnummer) in order to be eligible for the insurance. A personal identity number is generally not required for group insurances but it will always be requested if you purchase personal insurance coverage for an employee.

6. Bonus tip for industries with special requirements.

Certain insdustries are subject to more stringent control. If the company is small or mid-sized it will also be required to submit financial documents as part of the application. The Swedish Mgiration Agency will normally ask you for the company’s latest annual report as well as updated balance sheets and income statements.
However, there is something called free sifting of evidence in the Swedish judicial system. In the context of a work permit application it means that you can choose what evidence to provide the Swedish Migration Agency with. If your financial documents aren’t satisfactory you can also provide other forms of evidence to show that you can pay your prospective employee’s salary. Since the company has the burden of proof, a strong argument backed up by hard evidence is recommended.
Speaking from experience, the financial assessment applied by the Swedish Migration Agency doesn’t make sense to almost any employers or accountants. If your company doesn’t have extraordinary finances the recommendation is to seek out an expert before applying.

How can we help?

Do you feel like spending time on other things than work permit applications and also maximize your chances of a positive decision? If so, you are welcome to contact us at Permizon.

We offer a comprehensive service for handling work permits applications. The service covers everything mentioned above and more! Get in touch for a free assessment now. You can either call us or fill out a form on this page.

2021-04-19

Arbetstillstånd – vara eller icke vara

Team Permizon OUTDATED Arbetskraftsinvandring, Arbetstillstånd

I början av året kom ett första delbetänkande från utredningen om förbätt¬rade regler för arbets¬krafts¬invandring. Regeringens mål är att en lagstiftning ska vara på plats i början av 2022.

Frågan är vad förslagen betyder för kompetensförsörjningen i svenskt näringsliv i stort och för de många enskilda företagens behov av att vid behov hyfsat snabbt fylla sitt behov av specialister och specialistkunnande?

Översynen i sig är inte kontroversiell. Det finns goda skäl att misstänka att systemet i vissa avseenden utnyttjas av krafter som varken har samhällets eller arbetstagarnas bästa för ögonen. Samtidigt visar de återkommande historierna med så kallade kompetensutvisningar att reglerna under vissa omständigheter ställer orimliga formalistiska krav på de rekryterande företagen. Medierna har lyft ett antal fall där marginella och ofta helt oavsiktliga fel lett till avslag på tillståndsansökan, med personliga tragedier som följd.

Med utredningen hoppas regeringen komma till rätta med dessa utmaningar och fler därtill. Den nya lagstiftningen kommer sannolikt innebära att någon slags försörjningskrav införs. Avsikten är att göra det svårare att importera arbetskraft till mindre kvalificerade jobb. Idag kan en betydande andel av ansökningarna föras till denna kategori.

Om arbetsgivarna i ett antal låglönebranscher tvingas sluta söka arbetskraft utanför EU:s gränser kan det kanske minska Migrationsverkets totala arbetsbörda. Men även om handläggningstiderna därigenom kan komma att krympa något är det svårt att se att processen och hanteringen kommer att bli enklare.

Visserligen föreslår utredningen att ”försumbara och ursäktliga brister” inte ska leda till kompetensutvisningar, men någon närmare definition av försumbar eller ursäktlig står inte att finna.

Så också i framtiden måste arbetsgivare som vill anställa personal från utanför EU ha järnkoll på – och ansvar för – allt från lön och semesterersättning till försäkringsskydd och anställningsförhållande – före, under och efter ansökningsprocessen.

Kanske kan det gå lite snabbare, men knappast enklare.