The skills supply of Swedish firms

Ratio has recently started a pre-study, connected to a new research project concerning the skills supply of Swedish firms. A general focus will be on the young generation’s late entry to the labor market.

The pre-study will be done in collaboration with several of the employers' federations belonging to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv). It will be the groundwork of a more extended project within the same area, which takes off during spring 2012. The main target is to identify and describe the shortages of the firms' skills supply and which consequences it may have for firms, for individuals and for the economy as a whole. Ways how to improve laws, policies and incentive systems within the area will also be described.

How the firms' skills supply is affected by the delayed entry on the labor market is an almost unexplored research area. Hence, politicians and other policymakers lack relevant data to base decisions on.

The absence of pertinent skills supply is increasing in many sectors. Also, young people are now entering the labor market at a higher age than ever before. From the beginning of the 1990's and onwards, the age when a year cohort is defined as established on the labor market (when 75 % of a cohort is working) has increased from 20 to nearly 30 years. There is a large risk that this trend affects the firms' skills supply negatively.

Henrik Lindberg, PhD. and labor market researcher at Ratio, is the project leader.  A reference group with representatives from the employers' federations is connected to the project.

The employers' federations that participate in the pre-study are: Almega (Tjänsteföretagen, Tjänsteförbundet, Svenska Teknik- och Designföretagen, IT & Telekomföretagen, Medieföretagen, Bemanningsföretagen, Vårdföretagen), Byggindustrierna, Entreprenörföretagen, Grafiska företagens förbund, Industriarbetsgivarna, Maskinentreprenörerna, Skogsindustrierna, Skogs- och lantbruksarbetsgivarna, Svenskt Näringsliv, Svensk Handel, Teknikföretagen, Transportgruppen, Trä- och möbelföretagen, SHR and VVS-företagen.