Latest from Local Sweden
Local Sweden
16 hours ago
- Business
- Local Sweden
REVEALED: The 152 jobs that could be excused minimum salary for a Swedish work permit
The Local sent a freedom of information request to the Swedish Public Employment Service for the list of 152 job titles reported to the Migration Agency as meeting the criteria for exemption from a possible future new salary requirement. Here's the full list. Advertisement What's the background? Sweden's government in February asked the Migration Agency to "contribute proposals for professions that can be exempted from the higher salary requirement" for work permits proposed by a government inquiry in 2024. The Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) was asked to help the Migration Agency by producing a list of the jobs for which employers are struggling to fill positions from within Sweden and which also have a typical monthly salary below the 2023 median income of 35,600 kronor. This list, titled Occupations where the need for labour cannot be met within Sweden, was passed to the Swedish Migration Agency on May 30th this year. The Migration Agency told The Local on Friday it would use this list of 152 professions to produce its own final proposed list by the end of this week. Advertisement How did the Public Employment Service make its list? The service started by calculating that 323 of the 429 job titles in Sweden's official job categorisation system had a lowest salary according to collective bargaining agreements or actual data which was below the 2013 median salary of 35,600 kronor. It then looked at which roles employers were struggling to recruit for either nationally or in a specific region, reducing the number of job titles to 152. What's on the list? Several categories of IT workers make the list, with game developers, system testers, and system administrators all named as shortage professions that potentially pay below the median wage. Roles in academia, such as PhD students, research assistants, and "other university and higher education" are also included. Many different categories of engineers make the list, including civil engineers, chemical engineers, electrical engineers, construction engineers, machine engineers and mining engineers. Education also features highly, with teachers at upper secondary, lower secondary and primary level, and preschool level all included, along with after-school activities teachers, vocational teachers and more. Healthcare is also a big component, with junior house doctors making the list along with just about every category of nurse, nursing assistant and care worker. There were also a significant number of roles from the hotel and restaurant industry, including chefs, sous-chefs, pantry chefs, and pastry chefs. Advertisement What's the point of this list? Arguably, not that much. It is purely advisory as there is no existing legislation to which these proposed exceptions could apply. The current salary threshold for work permits, set at 80 percent of the median salary, is based on legislation that does not allow for exceptions. For a list like this to be applied, the government first needs to pass a bill in parliament bringing in the system of work permits proposed by a government inquiry in February last year (which proposed raising the salary threshold to 100 percent of the median salary). It has so far not even submitted a draft bill to the Council of Legislation, the first stage in this process. Mats Persson, the employment and integration minister who asked for the list to be prepared, was replaced at the end of June. You can see the full list of jobs below. Note the arrow to move to the next page in the top right hand corner.
Local Sweden
16 hours ago
- Business
- Local Sweden
Renegotiating your Swedish mortgage rate could save you thousands
Differing interest rates between Sweden's banks mean that mortgage holders could save thousands of kronor per year by switching banks or negotiating a new rate. Advertisement Only one in five Swedish mortgage holders has negotiated a new interest rate over the past few months, and one in three think that they do not have the right skills or knowledge to do so, a study by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) has shown. At the same time, there are substantial savings to be made by switching to a different bank. According to there was a 0.34 percentage point difference between the cheapest and most expensive mortgage banks in June, which represents a 6,800 kronor difference on a 2 million kronor mortgage. "A lot of people could save a fair amount by sitting down, going through and comparing the options," FI consumer protection economist Moa Langemark told the TT newswire. Despite this, few Swedes renegotiate their interest rates. "The market would probably be more well functioning if consumers were more willing to move," Langemark said. One think to watch out for, she added, is being encouraged to make parts of your mortgage fixed-term, as it can make it difficult to renegotiate the loan as a whole and complicates the process if you want to switch to a different bank. "You're more tied to a specific bank, essentially," she said. Advertisement Many also fall into the trap of looking at the so-called listränta (the advertised interest rate), when they negotiate their rate, instead of the snittränta (the average rate people were actually given in recent months). The difference between the two can often be more than one percentage point at the same bank, so the listränta should be seen more as a starting point for negotiations rather than a fixed offer. Langemark added that you shouldn't be afraid of asking questions and be willing to switch banks if you're not happy. "There are no stupid questions. You have every right to keep asking questions until you understand what interest rate your bank is going to offer you." FI has also worked in recent years to implement new measures to make the process easier and more transparent for people looking to change bank. Banks must now inform customers of the date their interest rate discount is due to expire (if they have a discount), and mortgage-holders have since last autumn been able to request a digital copy of their amorteringsunderlag (foundation of amortisation). The document details the amortisation requirements of the mortgage you want to move. This includes information on how much you already amortise, the estimated value of your property and the date when that value was set, and the size of your loan. An amorteringsunderlag is necessary if you want to move your mortgage to another bank, so ordering one can send a message to your current bank that you're thinking of switching. "Sometimes it's enough to just order a digital amorteringsunderlag to get your bank to contact you and offer you a better interest rate," Langemark said.
Local Sweden
16 hours ago
- Climate
- Local Sweden
Number of drownings spikes as Swedes cool off in hot weather
In the last two weeks, Sweden has seen on average one drowning accident a day. Advertisement Warm temperatures over the last two weeks have led many Swedes to head to the nearest lake or beach to cool off. Unfortunately, this has led to some gloomy statistics ‒ drownings have increased, with on average one per day occurring in the last fortnight, according to the Swedish Lifesaving Society. "We can see that the number of drownings has increased a lot, and the reason behind that is the nice weather we've seen across the country," Göran Bertilsson, from the Lifesaving Society, told public broadcaster Ekot. He added that boats and paddleboards have also become more common, which increases the risk of swimming accidents. Bertilsson advised swimmers to keep an eye on each other, especially children who can't swim. "You need to keep an eye on your children all the time, especially when there are a lot of people swimming," he said. "If you're looking at your phone you can't watch your kids at the same time." ESSENTIAL READING:
Local Sweden
3 days ago
- Local Sweden
Inside Sweden: Is it possible to get good airport food?
The Local Sweden's editor Emma Löfgren rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter. Advertisement Hej, I'm almost nine months pregnant, so I'm staying firmly on the ground, but for a lot of The Local's readers it's that time of the year when they hop on a plane to spend at least part of their summer holiday abroad, visiting friends or family. Earlier this year we asked readers to share their tips about the best places to eat, before or after security, at Arlanda Airport, the largest airport in Sweden. Personally I wouldn't even dream of stopping to eat before security, but I'm also the kind of person who shows up at the airport two hours before my flight is scheduled to depart, which has led to many a disagreement in my family. There are two types of people, etc... Anyway, we didn't get enough responses to that survey to publish an article about it, but my hope had been to find this tiny hidden gem that actually serves good food for a reasonable price (or överkomligt pris, as you'd say in Swedish). I was flat out of luck, because the restaurant picked by the highest number (still less than a handful) of respondents was, drum roll... McDonald's. Some of the reasons were that it's comparatively cheap and it's a safe option in that you know what you get (so I guess you don't have to come face to face with the disappointment of taking your chances with a more unique eatery). Advertisement I half suspect it picked up the protest vote, though. Or maybe this was the reason, as shared by one reader: "Did you know that the McDonald's at Arlanda is the only one in Sweden where you can grab a beer? Might not exactly be fine dining – but hey, beer at McDonald's? Can't say no to that." Hawaii Poke and La Neta were the only other two restaurants that got more than one vote in the survey. I love La Neta on Södermalm (it used to be door-to-door with The Local's old office), but haven't tried the airport version. Overly expensive airport food made headlines in 2023 after SEB bank senior economist Johan Javeus shared a picture on X of an "extremely ordinary prawn sandwich and a normal beer" he bought at Landvetter Airport for an eye-watering 422 kronor (around 36 euros or 38 dollars at the time). A Swedavia spokesperson told us at the time that they were planning to roll out a price cap on food at their ten airports (which include Arlanda) at some point by the end of 2025. I contacted them to check whether this has actually happened yet, but it's the summer holiday season in Sweden, so... Maybe for now the best option is still what several readers recommended: just bring your own food. But if you find that hidden gem, please let me know! Advertisement In other news Sweden is set to make it significantly harder to become a citizen from next summer, which the government has argued will make citizenship "mean more" than it does today. So we asked The Local's readers what becoming a Swedish citizen meant to them. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful comments. After a freeze on new citizenships earlier this year, Sweden's Migration Agency is again processing cases. So what do the statistics say about which nationalities have received Swedish citizenship in the first half of 2025? In the past few months, a number of Swedish gaming companies have gone bankrupt or laid off staff amid funding struggles. The Local's Becky Waterton looked into why this is happening, and how it is affecting foreigners in the industry. More than half of the non-European immigrants who left Sweden last year had tertiary education, new figures have shown. Unemployment in Sweden is already high, and rising. At the end of last month, around 19,000 more people were unemployed than the same time last year. There are almost 30,000 islands and islets in the Stockholm archipelago and each of them is different from the next. Here are ten worth visiting, whether you're looking for a party night, a relaxing weekend, seafood or family fun. Have a lovely weekend, Emma Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It's published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.
Local Sweden
3 days ago
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Can Sweden's migration minister survive scandal of son's extremist links?
This week: Minister under pressure over son's white supremacist links, and how bad is the crisis in Sweden's games industry? For Membership+ subscribers: latest on plans to exempt some professions from work permit salary requirements, and readers' Swedish summer tips. Advertisement In this week's episode we talk about revelations that the son of Johan Forssell, Sweden's migration minister, has been active in far-right extremist groups and how the scandal is affecting the government. We also discuss what's behind a recent spate of redundancies in Sweden's games sector, an industry that employs a disproportionately high number of foreign workers. For Membership+ subscribers, we look at how the Migration Agency is handling a request by the government to present a list of professions that could be exempted from work permit salary requirements. And finally, we dig into a list of recommendations from readers of The Local on how best to enjoy the summer holiday season in Sweden. Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Becky Waterton and Richard Orange. Advertisement Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode: Politics Working in Sweden Work permits Swedish citizenship You can listen to the free episode here: Or follow Sweden in Focus wherever you listen to podcasts. Advertisement Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday. Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+ Read more about Membership+ in our help centre. Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription. Advertisement
