The Swedes studying on nearly full pay

When he took over as Sweden's new Minister for Employment, Johan Pehrson said the government would "tweak" the new career readjustment support scheme. This created a lot of attention because it is part of the new collective agreement between employees and employers that was signed in the summer of 2022 after long negotiations.

Johan Pehrson tells the Nordic Labour Journal that he has met the social partners and discussed the support, which he describes as an opportunity and a right.

"What we need to promote now is good education, and we need to tweak our universities and other higher education institutions. We already have labour market training, municipality adult education (komvux) and higher vocational education. But now you might get people who are 30, 40 and 50 seeking career readjustment. These people should get access to a university and use their high skill levels to learn something new. They should meet young people who are at the beginning of their academic studies. This could become a hugely beneficial cross-fertilisation.

"This is where we need to tweak a bit," says Johan Pehrson.

Photo: Johannes Frandsen/Regeringskansliet