Bottleneck Vacancies in Sweden Unmet demand for workers in the health care and ICT sector Main bottlenecks appear within health care and the ICT sector. A revival of the mining sector after a steep decline can be seen in the demand for workers in both high- and low-skilled occupations. Bottlenecks mainly in high-skilled occupations Bottleneck vacancies mainly appear with high-skilled occupations, such as doctors (both generalists and specialists), nurses (mainly specialist nurses, but recently also generalist nurses), specific types of engineers and various occupations related to information technology. A few non-high skilled jobs are also classified as bottlenecks, notably mining and quarry workers, sheet metal workers, armed forces, pre-primary school teachers and cooks. Mining and quarry workers are very difficult to recruit, although the number of vacancies is relatively low. In Sweden the number of recently emerged bottlenecks is higher than the European average. These include bottlenecks within metal machinery and related trades workers, civil engineers, ICT professionals and cooks. Other bottlenecks, on the other hand, have been persistent since 2008. Underlying reasons vary for bottlenecks For bottlenecks within high-skilled occupations, the main reason is a lack of qualified workforce, with in particular experienced workforce being in high demand (specialist doctors, nurses, engineers). Within ICT occupations, lack of skilled workforce is due to too few graduates in the field, as well as a demand for experienced recruits. In low skilled occupations, main demand is also for experienced labour, for example cooks with specialist competencies and good references. For newly graduated the labour market situation is less favourable. Most mitigation strategies are related to education and attracting youth In health care, IT and mining sectors, the employers organisations are working together with educational institutions to increase the number of students in relevant educational programmes as well as the number of places in the programmes. In the IT and mining sectors a lot of work is also being put into increasing the attractiveness of the industry among youth. In health care sector, employers are recruiting from other European countries to cover the shortage. Recruitment from abroad is also used to fill demand in the mining sector. Assessment of available evidence Sweden 2013 Population: 9.6m Workforce: 5m Unemployment: 7.5% TOP 20 Bottleneck Vacancies in Sweden 2013 Occupation (ISCO-08)* Mining/Quarry workers Software developers Mining and Metallurgical Technicians Mining Engineers, Metallurgists IT architects Civil engineers Medical doctors Electrical engineers Commissioned armed forces Pre-primary education teacher Cooks Motor vehicle mechanics (trucks) Sheet metal workers Mechanical engineers Operation theater nurse* Systems analyst (IT) Psychiatric nurse* Civil engineering technicians Emergency care nurses* Ships engineers Development since 2008 N/A Good. See page 5 for more information. *Where an occupation has been identified on a more specific level than ISCO 4 digit, this is used. Page 1
Top 20 Bottleneck Vacancies The Bottleneck Vacancies have been identified using one main source: a periodic report from the Swedish PES on labour market shortages, based on an employer survey. A report from the Statistics Bureau, on labour market demand for different occupations has been used as additional resource. Bottleneck vacancies mainly appear with high-skilled occupations, such as medical practitioners (both generalists and specialists), nurses, specific types of engineers and various occupations related to information technology. Within health, Swedish primary care is experiencing severe bottleneck problems in terms of specialist medical practitioners, with a current shortage of 1.400 unfilled vacancies (based on a survey among primary health care providers). Furthermore, specialist nurses are in high demand, with shortages for in particular operating theatre, emergency health care and psychiatric care. More recently, also generalist nurses have become difficult to recruit. Although growth in construction and manufacturing remains slow, high-skilled labour is still in demand. Within technical domains, engineers are in high demand, more specifically in the mining, construction, electrical and mechanical field. Mining and quarry workers are very difficult to recruit, although the number of vacancies is relatively low. The mining sector is experiencing strong growth, thus accentuating recruitment problems. A few non-high skilled jobs are also classified as bottlenecks, notably within mining and quarry workers, sheet metal workers, armed forces, pre-primary school teachers and cooks. For pre-primary school teachers the recruitment difficulties also relate to new regulation requiring all pre-primary teachers to hold a relevant degree. The current workforce does not meet these requirements, which leads to a very favourable labour market for pre-primary school teachers. Occupations are ranked based on an index of how much competition there is for each occupation, developed by the Public Employment Services, survey data is collected with a large sample of employers twice yearly (see p. 5). Rank Bottleneck Vacancies ISCO -08 Number of Employed in Occupation 2011 Skills level (ISCO-08) Geographical aspects 1 Mining/Quarry workers 2.900 Elem 2 Software developers 76.000 HS 3 Mining and Metallurgical Technicians 1.200 HS 4 Mining Engineers, Metallurgists 800 HS 5 IT architects 21.300 HS 6 Civil engineers 11.400 HS 7 Medical doctors 35.400 HS 8 Electrical engineers 18.000 HS 9 Commissioned armed forces 14.400 Elem Regional (army bases) 10 Pre-primary education teacher 85.300 HS 11 Cooks 35.300 SNM Urban 12 Motor vehicle mechanics (trucks) 29.800 SM 13 Sheet metal workers 10.600 SM 14 Mechanical engineers 26.900 HS 15 Operation theater nurse 9.300 HS 16 Systems analyst (IT) 21.300 HS 17 Psychiatric nurse 9.300 HS 18 Civil engineering technicians 24.800 HS 19 Emergency care nurses 9.300 HS 20 Ships engineers 1.800 HS n/a Elem:Elementary, SNM: Skilled non manual, SM: Skilled manual, HS= High skilled Page 2
Main sectors with Bottleneck Vacancies Sectors Mining Health ICT Bottleneck vacancies Mining and metallurgical technicians, mining Engineers, metallurgists Medical practitioners (specialist and generalists), Specialist and generalist nurses Software developers, IT-architects and systems analysts Apart from mining and the growth sectors of ICT and health care, the bottlenecks are dispersed among several sectors, such as construction, shipping or military. Apart from the three main sectors, there are however no clear trends in terms of the sectors, where bottlenecks exist. Bottleneck problems in mining Mining is a specific sector in Sweden experiencing bottleneck problems. Although a relatively small sector in terms of employment, the growth is strong and it generates economic activity to regions with low economic activity and opportunities. Problems with bottleneck occupations are furthermore accentuated by the fact that few applicants are willing to move to the regions were work is demanded. In certain mining communities the number of inhabitants is decreasing, due to a high number of commuters working in the mining companies. This has an impact not only on the mining business, but also on services and care sector which receive less revenue and a reduced tax base. Main reasons for Bottleneck Vacancies Lack of technical competencies Most bottleneck occupations in Sweden occur due to a lack of technical competencies. Even though experienced labour/work experience is in high demand, the labour market remains favourable for newly educated workforce, in particular within the bottleneck occupations. For certain bottlenecks it is per definition experienced workforce which is lacking, notably in healthcare where it is primarily specialist competencies which are hard to come by for the employers. To further aggravate the situation, working conditions in healthcare are difficult, with staff attempting to compensate for shortages. Specific requirements For pre-primary school teachers the recruitment difficulties also relate to new regulation requiring all preprimary teachers to hold a relevant degree. The current workforce does not meet these requirements, which leads to a very favourable labour market for pre-primary school teachers. Contextual factors Overall, the economic crisis and economic slowdown have contributed to less recruitment problems in Sweden, with certain occupations no longer in shortage. The labour market remains slack for the unemployed, and in particular for new entrants to the labour market, irrespective of occupation. Main bottleneck problems relate to in particular experienced workers, although for the identified bottlenecks labour shortage is high overall. Page 3
Initiatives to cope with Bottleneck Vacancies Identified initiatives aimed at mitigating bottleneck vacancies are mainly being implemented by the employers. Overall the mitigation actions put in place nationally mainly concern an increase in places in the education system, for example for medical professionals and engineers, as well as increasing the interest of youth in the sector. The employers are also concerned in making the educational programmes more worklife relevant. Recruitment abroad is common among medical practictioners (in particular doctors) and specialist engineers (in particular in mining). Skills Strategies Improving image Examples include initiatives to make educational programmes more workplace relevant (IT and telecommunications). There are also initiatives to increase the number of places in educational programmes (IT and telecommunications sector, health care). In the IT-sector this has worked well and a report on the lack of workforce in the field has helped to show that there is a need for graduated. Further, initiatives to make the sector more known among youth are relevant in the mining and IT and telecommunications sectors. These include for example the website www.valjit.se (choose IT). It is also the aim of the sector to initiate teaching of coding in elementary schools. The IT and telecommunications sector is working with making the sector more attractive to women, starting with awareness-raising campaigns in schools. The share of female managers is currently at 10-15% in many of the companies in the sector, which is why a mentor programme for potential female managers has been created (www.womentor.se). Wages Recruitment There are no specific initiatives in this field. This being said, the wages in the mining sector are higher than average and can function as a pullfactor towards the industry. It is for example reported that the average salaries for 20-24 year olds in the mining regions are almost 50% above the average wage. According to the industry representatives this is however not a conscious longterm strategy to attract more people to the sector, the main challenge is in getting youth to know the sector and to inform them about the possibilities it offers. Overall, according to statistics, the wages are somewhat lower for females within the same occupation, following the pattern of the labour market in general. In the mining sector (in particular among the high -skilled occupations), some initiatives have been taken to recruit workforce from other EU countries. This is also the case in the health care sector, in particular with respect to medical doctors. In the health care sector the employers often use recruitment companies as intermediaries, searching for doctors in other EU Member States, teaching them Swedish and mediating them to the potential employers in Sweden. Page 4
Main sources used to identify Bottleneck Vacancies in Sweden The Bottleneck Vacancies have been identified using as main source: A periodic report from the Swedish PES on labour market shortages, based on employer survey. The report, titled Var finns jobben?, refers to data collected in the second half of 2012. A report from the Statistics Bureau, on labour market demand for different occupations, based on employer survey, has been used as additional source, in order to validate the findings and elaborate on trends in the recent years. Furthermore, explanations and reasons have been explored through desk research on press releases, news paper articles and alike, dealing with shortages in specific occupations and sectors (for example the health care sector is highly debated in Sweden). Interviews have been conducted to validate the results of the desk research. Overall, the data quality is assessed to be good. The main report from PES has been issued twice a year, from 2008 and onwards. It is based on 12,000 interviews with private employers, and a sample of public sector employers, asking them about recruitment difficulties. Rating is based on an index from 1 to 5, where 1 is very high competition about jobs, presenting an important excess of candidates per a specific occupation, and 5 is very little competition, given an important lack of applicants for a specific occupation (=shortage). The index per each occupation is the result of the weighted average of the assessments given by the PES offices of the country. All occupations which registered an index above 4 in the second half of 2012 are identified as bottleneck vacancies. The survey by the Statistics Bureau targets a sample of employers, in all sectors. In the targeted 2012 sample, 10,800 questionnaires were sent out to 7,309 employers. The response rate was 72%. The employers answers questions on whether they experience shortages of applicants for certain occupations, divided between experienced and newly graduated. Sources Arbetsförmedlingen, Var finns jobben?bedömning for 2013 och långsiktig utblick, 2013, available at: http:// www.arbetsformedlingen.se/download/18.3485b9a713b6ad32ce140a2/var+finns+jobben_rapport.pdf Statistiska centralbyrån, Arbetskraftsbarometern 12, Utsikterna på arbetsmarknaden för 72 utbildningar, 2012, available at: http://www.scb.se/statistik/_publikationer/uf0505_2012a01_br_am78br1202.pdf Statistiska centralbyrån, Yrkesstrukturen i Sverige 2011, 2013, available at: http://www.scb.se/statistik/am/ AM0208/2011A01/AM0208_2011A01_SM_AM33SM1301.pdf IT & Telekomföretagen, IT och telekomsektorns kompetensbrist, 2012, available at: http://www.valjit.se/ website1/1.0.1.0/442/kompetensbrist_rapport_mars2012.pdf Three interviews conducted with key stakeholders and experts. Page 5