International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
170
Outside of Sweden, Swedish missions have a general mandate to spread information
about Sweden and conduct promotional activities in various ways. Most Swedish
embassy websites openly advertise the possibility to come to Sweden to work. There
are currently no recruitment offices for labour migration set up by Swedish authorities
outside of Sweden and no dedicated programmes for the recruitment of high-skilled
workers.
Since the labour market reform of 2008, the Swedish Public Employment Service
does not have an active role in the procedures. The Public Employment Service does,
however, still produce forecasts of the labour market and a list of professions that are
in demand, referred to as the labour shortage list (‘bristyrkeslistan’) (PES 1, PES 2;
2012). This list is posted on both the Migration Board’s and the Swedish Institute’s
websites. The shortage list is used in two ways: i) to inform migrants where there
is a demand for labour, and ii) to grant work permits to people who are already in
Sweden. If an applicant’s occupation is on the shortage list, they can apply for a work
permit without having to return to their country of origin.
Very few employers take advantage of the option to recruit from abroad. Of the ones
that do, the vast majority use their already existing networks (Employment Service,
2012e). This might not be surprising since networks are the most commonly used
recruitment channel within Sweden as well (PES 1, CSE; 2012). Large, multinational
companies and employers with roots in third countries have an informational
advantage in the recruitment of labour from outside the EU (Employment Service,
2012e). The Swedish recruitment of migrants from third countries often fit into the
following patterns:
Table 9.4: Main recruitment channels
Type of work Small and medium sized employers Large employers
Skilled Few. Informal contacts and some indication
of use of staffing companies
Low-skilled Personal network, Brokers/agents
Intra-company transfers,
Informal contacts
Seasonal Foreign staffing companies, often involving the same workers every year
Sources: Author’s compilation based on the analysis of recruitment patterns.
Large, multinational employers represent about 35 per cent of the work permit
applications received at the Migration Board between January 2011 and June
2012 (Employment Service, 2012e). These companies can transfer people within
the company and from subsidiaries (Andersson Joona and Wadensjö, 2011). Intracorporate
transfers are one of the easiest channels for labour migration. They usually
take place in large corporations that have been certified by the Migration Board and
can go through the work permit application process very fast. The larger companies
also have an advantage thanks to their international reputation (PES 1, 2012). They
are able to use their own websites to advertise work opportunities, and employees
might get in touch with them directly (Si, SCF; 2012). They have a large network
and can use current employees to find more people with the same expertise (CSE,