Unemployment services for newly arrived migrants in Sweden: The privatization and rebureaucratization of the introduction programme

Abstract

A recent policy reform in Sweden reorganized the management of newly arrived migrants' entrance into the labour market, which resulted in the Swedish Public Employment Service being given coordinating responsibility and introducing private service providers. Building on qualitative interviews with public employment officers and private actors, this study focuses on how the political contradictions in the new 2‐year introduction programme are managed at the organizational level. In the article, it is argued that although both public employment officers and private actors experience difficulty separating unemployed migrants' need for social support from the workfare ambitions of the programme, aspects of privatization—such as freedom of choice and the service specification—further complicate this situation. Thus, the individualization aspects of the policy should be viewed as countering some of the more controlling aspects of the reform, thus, in effect, neutralizing its liberalizing tendencies.

Trajectories of Newly Arrived Migrants in the Swedish Introduction Program

“…In the initial study, interviews were conducted with PES employment officers and establishment guides. These interviews are not directly referred to in this paper, but the material and the analysis of these may, to a certain extent, have influenced the current analysis (see Ennerberg, 2017Ennerberg, , 2020.…”

Labour market integration of adults with alcohol and substance use problems in the Nordic countries

“…Although most Nordic countries engage both public and private providers in delivering employment services, there is no uniform approach among them concerning the participation of private providers in this sector. Sweden and Denmark, for instance, have adopted relatively extensive privatisation measures, with a substantial share of employment services being outsourced to private agencies (Ennerberg, 2020;Greer et al, 2017;Jantz et al, 2018) (see elaborative accounts from the Swedish case). In slight contrast, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Greenland have been more cautious in privatising these services, with a greater emphasis on maintaining public control (Leiren et al, 2020).…”

The role and challenges of public service organisations in the labour market integration of refugees: A relational perspective analysing integration measures in Austria, Finland, Germany and Sweden

“…Germany passed a new Integration Act in 2016 with a 'rights and responsibilities' approach, meaning refugees must comply with certain obligations (e.g., attending integration courses) to maintain access to LMI measures (Konle-Seidl, 2018). In Sweden, the legislative base for LMI is the 2010 Act on the Responsibility for Settlement Measures for Recent Immigrants, which specifies that refugees have the opportunity to voluntarily participate in a 2-year Introduction Programme-which includes LMI measures (Diedrich, 2017;Ennerberg, 2021Ennerberg, , 2020-run by the Swedish Public Employment Service (PES).…”