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Room for improvement: Attitudes to language and work performance among managers and employees in Swedish workplaces

Abstract

This report reviews research on the relationship between language skills and work performance and presents an exploratory survey of managers and employees in Swedish workplaces. It examines how respondents perceive the role of language ability in performance, communication and attitudes at work, including possible differences across sectors and skill levels. The survey used a convenience sample, so its findings indicate tendencies and questions for further research rather than representative effects.

Forsberg Lundell, F. & Selimovic, T. (2026). Det finns utrymme för förbättring: Attityder till språk och arbetsprestation hos chefer och anställda på svenska arbetsplatser. Stockholm: Ratio.

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Details

Author: Forsberg Lundell, F. & Selimovic, T.
Publication year: 2026
Published in: Ratio

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Professor
Fanny Forsberg Lundell
fanny.forsberg.lundell@ratio.se

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Article (with peer review)

Artificial Intelligence for Public Use

Lodefalk, M.; Engberg, E.; Lidskog, R.; Skargren, F.; Tang, A.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Digital Society

Abstract

The public sector faces rising expectations, demographic change and persistent efficiency challenges. This article examines both the potential and limitations of AI in public services. Using an interdisciplinary conceptual framework, it analyses organisational, regulatory, technical and ethical barriers. It also simulates AI’s possible long-term effects on labour demand and productivity in Sweden using administrative data and occupational AI-exposure measures. The scenarios suggest that AI could help ease labour shortages and raise productivity, although effects vary substantially across subsectors and types of organisation. The results are scenarios, not forecasts.

Ratio Working Paper No. 393: What is an AI Worker? Evidence from Matched Vacancy-Hires

Publication year

2026

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Abstract

Despite growing policy interest in AI workforce development, surprisingly little is known about what defines these workers, or indeed if they differ from their occupational peers. Using a novel matched vacancy-hire dataset linking Swedish job postings to the individuals hired to fill them, drawn from register data on the entire Swedish population, I study the characteristics of workers who develop and apply AI. Observable traits including high cognitive ability, a tertiary degree in STEM subjects, and a recent migrant background largely explain occupational sorting. Of these, only higher education, prior AI experience, and a science degree set them apart within occupation. I then use earnings as a window onto unobservable differences: AI workers earn approximately 5% more than their peers, entirely explained by firm-level wages. However, AI workers with a doctorate degree stand out sharply in both traits and earnings, indicating that AI workers split into segments that differ by the complexity of their skills and tasks. Taken together, these results point to two distinct policy levers: the supply of average AI workers, termed AI integrators, can be expanded via STEM education participation, while the elite AI developers are supplied by researchers moving to the private sector.

Effects of School Leadership in Sweden: An Evaluation of the National Principal Training Programme 2009–2021

R. Persson, E. Demir & K. Wennberg

Publication year

2026

Published in

IFAU Report 2026:19

Abstract

This report evaluates Sweden’s National Principal Training Programme using data on 3,783 participants from 2009 to 2021. The results indicate no noticeable improvement in student outcomes or teachers’ assessments of principals’ pedagogical leadership. The analyses also suggest that principals have limited influence on variation in grades compared with other factors.