“Both LO, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and PTK believe this is worth investing in. The collective agreement is a stamp of approval both for employers who would like to take part and provides security for the young people who will have the same terms and conditions, regardless of what trade they start working in.
Read this article in Swedish on Arbeidsliv i Norden
“It also means that all businesses that welcome young people are covered by a collective agreement,” says Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, negotiations secretary at Swedish LO (the Swedish Trade Union Confederation).
PTK is the council for negotiation and cooperation, a joint organisation of unions representing more than 1 million salaried employees in the private sector in Sweden.
Last spring, Evin Cetin from the non-profit organisation Nästa generation Sverige (Next generation Sweden) contacted the social partners to present the organisation’s work with young people in disadvantaged areas.
They wanted the social partners to quality-assure and safeguard a new form of employment that combines school and work through a collective agreement for so-called SAO jobs.
SAO is short for studiemotiverande arbetslivsorientering (study-motivating worklife orientation).
It means entire school classes of eighth graders in areas affected by social exclusion are given the opportunity to work at a company for two hours a week over the course of a year, with supervision and pay in line with collective agreements.
This happens through an agreement between the school, parents, the student and a business, and one of the conditions for continuing to work is that the pupil also keeps up with their schoolwork.
Wages are paid by the employers, so there are no subsidies that undermine wage levels or create displacement effects. That was important for the social partners when they signed the collective agreement for SAO jobs.
Normally, wage levels are negotiated by sectoral employer and union organisations, but for SAO jobs, they are set centrally, and it is up to the individual unions whether to approve them. So far, all LO-affiliated unions have been positive.
Veli-Pekka Säikkälä has a background in industry and sees that many industrial companies are showing an interest in SAO jobs.
Just as the scheme gives unions the chance to engage with young people at an early stage, it also gives the companies an opportunity to spark young people’s interest in their particular business. In the longer term, it also helps counter skills shortages.
If the young people do not have parents who work, they often know little about how the Swedish labour market works. But they can learn this in the workplace.
“Right now, there is a lot of focus on locking up young people, and we’re not seeing many measures making sure they don’t end up there in the first place. SAO jobs are exactly that kind of measure,” says Veli-Pekka Säikkälä.
For Nästa generation Sverige, the collective agreement means stability. The SAO jobs are not supposed to be temporary, but something that will grow to become part of the municipalities’ efforts to fight youth exclusion.
“For us, it’s important that these jobs are not just a project but a new employment model that offers the municipalities the chance to combat youth exclusion. We need the support of the social partners to make sure this work is long-term, sustainable and secure,” says Evin Cetin.
“We are incredibly happy and proud of the fact that this is Sweden’s first employment model where lower secondary students have paid work as part of their school education. If they don’t keep up their school attendance, their job is put on hold – that is unique in itself.”
What the young people want
Evin Cetin is a former lawyer and expert on gang crime. After working as a legal counsel for victims and dealing with many murder cases within criminal gangs, she and co-author Jens Liljestrand wrote the book “Mitt ibland oss” (In our midst).
It is based on interviews with young people she has met in her job as a lawyer. She recently published “Barnsoldater” (Child soldiers), again together with Jens Liljestrand.
She has been talking to 12,000 young people in disadvantaged areas over the years and has met a new generation born in Sweden who live in social exclusion with less belief in the future than other young people their age.
As of now, more than 700,000 people in Sweden live in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, also known as exclusion zones. 250,000 are children.
These areas are characterised by high long-term unemployment, lower incomes and poorer school results, and this is also where many children live in poverty.
“They are living with the feeling of being outsiders, they have lower expectations of the future, and they see no way of accessing the labour market. The facts show that their feelings are justified.
“Eight in ten jobs are secured through personal contacts, something which these young people don’t have. When I’ve asked them how their exclusion can be broken, they say “lower the working age”.
“So this is something the young people themselves want, and we have really listened to them,” says Evin Cetin.
She highlights the importance of long-term efforts to fight the type of exclusion she has seen among many young people in deprived areas.
Anyone who wants to gain their trust needs to do more than offer temporary solutions or well-meaning but short-term election promises about integration. The young people themselves call these people “talkers” – people with many words but little action.
“One of the young people I met told me: ‘You’re one of those talkers, but if you want to give us something, give us a job’. That really hit me, because that guy was actually speaking the truth.
“That’s when I realised that I couldn’t go back to the young people and just talk without offering concrete proposals for jobs where businesses open up the doors to the labour market for young people in disadvantaged areas.
“After all, I too know how important open doors can be,” she says.
Not a measure, but an investment
Evin Cetin arrived in Sweden as a refugee from Kurdistan. She was four years old and came with her family to Bollnäs.
There were many open doors for her there, not least in sports, where she started with learning the most basic things. After a while, she began studying law, and that is where the open doors slammed shut.
She had no contacts in that world and could not find work. On a flight, she told the woman sitting next to her about her situation. The woman turned out to be MEP Lena EK, and the rest, you could almost say, is history.
Evin Cetin got an internship at the European Parliament in Brussels, where she worked in politics. She eventually became a lawyer and an expert in gang crime before she decided to start fighting social exclusion.
With her knowledge about the need for stability and long-term efforts, she took the initiative to establish the non-profit organisation Nästa Generation Sverige, in partnership with Caroline Berg, CEO of the Axel Johnson company.
They wanted to create a new culture, a new narrative around the young people in disadvantaged areas. SAO jobs are not about measures but about investments.
They have the backing of a range of well-known individuals and major companies, as well as the Crown Princess Couple’s Foundation.
“We tell the young people that they are Sweden’s next generation, that they are the next generation Sundsvallsbor or Västeråsare.
“We want to give them a feeling of being part of something, to feel included, to learn how to meet people. The way you as a young person think about yourself, your future and your identity can help prevent problems down the road. This is not only about earning a thousand kronor.
“It’s about being able to tell your mother, dad, brother, mate; ‘I’ll be coming home late, I’m going to my SAO job’, for an entire year.”
Increased energy and better results
Inspired by Denmark’s work with “pocket money jobs” for young people, Nästa generation Sverige has developed a model similar to the Danish one that links schools and workplaces.
A pilot project at two schools began in 2025, one in Upplands Väsby, the other at St Olofsskolan, now called Åkersviks skola, in Sundsvall. It was no coincidence that Evin Cetin contacted them.
St Olofsskolan in Sundsvall had early on wanted to give pupils knowledge of working life. Most of their students come from one of Sundsvall’s four areas that the government has classified as exclusion zones.
The school also receives young people who have experienced difficulties in school or poor mental health. Johan Karlsson is the assistant headteacher, and together with headteacher Øyvind Eriksen, he had been working on linking school and working life for a long time.
Johan Karlsson explains how he introduced the construction company Peab to his fifth-year pupils at his previous school.
Peab was getting ready to start a major bridge-building project and asked the pupils for ideas. What do bridges look like, how can they be made safe and what might be needed to build them?
“So we thought of introducing one company to each cohort, since we saw the positive impact that it had on the pupils. Evin Cetin had heard about us, she called and came to meet pupils, parents and politicians.
“She thinks we are a bit different because we have so much faith in our students,” says Johan Karlsson.
Åkersviks skola has worked with Evin Cetin and Nästa generation Sverige ever since. Last year, the pilot project started up with 33 students in Sundsvall and two classes in Upplands Väsby.
These days, the number of SAO jobs is being expanded to cover 550 young people in schools from Västerås, Sundsvall, Uppsala and Sundbyberg.
Work continues in Upplands Väby and in Sundsvall, and the eighth graders are already gearing up for the new form of employment. Year 8 students get to make an introduction video and apply for jobs with participating companies.
In year 9, they get to join their companies for two hours a week for the whole year. The students know that they have to attend school in order to keep their job.
“They’re already super keen to join their workplaces,” says Johan Karlsson.
As the assistant headteacher, it is important for him to help the young people rediscover their motivation. Many of the pupils at the school have gone through tough times and have lost their drive. The SAO jobs make a difference, Karlsson says.
“They are fantastic! When the students arrive at the workplace, they shed the role they have in the school and bring out the best version of themselves and the power within them.
“That also makes them better at school. They listen, don’t argue back or disrupt others. We will get better school results because of the SAO jobs,” he concludes, summing up the experience of the first group.
Parents have been consistently positive, and attendance at parents’ meetings has been higher than ever. There has been an increase in trust between the school and parents, says Johan Karlsson.
“Many students don’t know what is out there, but when they become part of a workplace, they can no longer live on the side of society.
“If you are being disruptive on the bus, someone from work might recognise you. Because of your job, you suddenly have something to lose.”
Nearly all workplaces that have participated during the first year will be continuing with next year’s cohort.
They represent a wide variety of businesses, including Pressbyrån newsagents, flooring companies, industrial companies, grocery stores, sports outlets, elderly care and libraries.
More businesses have expressed an interest, so this year, in Sundsvall, there are more potential workplaces than there are students.
“Many workplaces want to work with social sustainability, but have not quite known how to do this. With SAO jobs, they can make a real difference and give the young people role models and goals,” says Johan Karlsson.
