New Initiative Aims to Boost Employment for Long-Term Unemployed in Stockholm
A new collaborative initiative in Stockholm seeks to enhance employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed through improved stakeholder cooperation.
Key Points
- • The Kompetensarena Stockholm initiative aims to facilitate employment for the long-term unemployed.
- • Findings show employers view public services as fragmented and poorly coordinated.
- • Improved collaboration routines and better preparation for job seekers are proposed solutions.
- • Testing solutions will begin in the hospitality sector this fall, aiming for a project launch by 2026.
A new initiative in Stockholm, called Kompetensarena Stockholm, is underway, aiming to improve employment opportunities for long-term unemployed individuals. This collaborative effort involves key stakeholders including Arbetsförmedlingen, Region Stockholm, Storsthlm, and the City of Stockholm, backed by funding from the European Social Fund.
The initiative highlights the need for better cooperation between employers and public employment services, revealed through a detailed study involving 50 interviews. These interviews indicated that employers perceive public services as fragmented and poorly coordinated, often describing interactions as 'ad hoc' and misaligned with their needs. The insights demonstrate significant bottlenecks in the hiring process and stress the urgent requirement for enhanced communication and synchronization between job seekers' requirements and employers' expectations.
To address these issues, proposed solutions include establishing improved collaboration routines, updating labor market knowledge for job coaches, and better preparation for job seekers prior to meetings with potential employers. Testing of these proposed solutions is set to begin in the hospitality sector this fall, with the goal of implementing a comprehensive project by 2026. Julika Lamberth Bagge, growth manager at Region Stockholm, underscored the importance of the initiative in tackling skills shortages across various sectors, stating that it also seeks to mitigate the negative impact long-term unemployment has on regional competitiveness.