Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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Protection beneficiaries are required to participate in Swedish and civic orientation courses,
organized by the municipalities, as a part of their introduction plans. In addition, the
Employment Service must also provide protection beneficiaries with activities that will
prepare them to work in Sweden. These activities can include skills trainings, professional and
workplace skills courses, internships, or adult education classes. Protection beneficiaries are
also eligible for some subsidized job placements. Introduction plans last two years, and the
activities included in the plan are designed to be undertaken full time.203
Challenges to accessing and succeeding in the labor market in practice
Despite the extensive work rights and assistance provided to protection beneficiaries and
asylum seekers in Sweden, in practice, refugees often find it extremely difficult to establish
themselves in the labor market. Few asylum seekers actually enter work during the
processing and reception period. As of April 2016, the Migration Agency had registered just
530 of 169,000 asylum seekers as employed, and half of these were in Stockholm.204 Outcomes
are only somewhat better for recognized refugees. In 2015, just 31 percent of adults who had
completed a two-year refugee introduction program run by the Employment Service were in
full-time work or education, and most of these were in subsidized jobs.205
The reasons why refugees struggle to enter the labor market in Sweden are numerous and
complex.206 Chief among these may be the lower education levels of refugees on average
relative to the skills requirements of the Swedish labor market, as well as the difficulties of
obtaining sufficient proficiency in English. Of those enrolled in the Employment Service's
introduction program in March 2016, 46 percent had a lower secondary education or less.207
By comparison, just 18 percent of Swedish adults had less than an upper secondary education
in 2014,208 and employment rates in Sweden, as in other EU countries, are highest for those
with at least an upper secondary diploma.209 Education levels thus have a noticeable impact
on labor market outcomes for refugees. After two years in the introduction program, 42
percent of refugees with a post-secondary education were in work or further education, while
just 25 percent of those with less than a secondary degree were employed or studying.210
Providers in both the reception units and Employment Service have struggled to find ways to
effectively connect the lowest skilled to the labor market.211 Resource constraints mean that
203 Interview with Jennie Larsson, Integration Researcher, Public Employment Service, April 13, 2016
204 Interview with Marten Martensson, Operations Specialist, Reception Unit, Region South, Migrationsverket, April 15, 2016
205 Data provided by the Swedish Employment Service upon request.
206 For an in-depth assessment of the barriers to labor market integration facing immigrants in Sweden see Pieter
Bevelander and Nahikari Irastorza, Catching Up: The Labor Market Outcomes of New Immigrants in Sweden, (Washington, DC
and Geneva: Migration Policy Institute and International Labor Office, 2014),
and Henrik
Emilsson, No Quick Fix: Policies to Support the Labor Market Integration of New Arrivals in Sweden , (Washington, DC and
Geneva: Migration Policy Institute and International Labor Office, 2014),
quick-fix-policies-support-labor-market-integration-new-arrivals-sweden
207 Data provided by the Swedish Employment Service upon request.
208 Includes adults from 25 to 64 years old. OECD Data, “Education attainment,” accessed June 7, 2016,
209 Eurostat, “Employment rate by highest level of education, age group 25–64, 2014 (%) YB16,” updated August 11, 2015,
explained/index.php/File:Employment_rate_by_highest_level_of_education,_age_group_25%E2%80%9364,_2014_(%25)_Y
B16.png
210 Data provided by the Swedish Employment Service upon request.
211 Interview with Marten Martensson, Operations Specialist, Reception Unit, Region South, Migrationsverket, April 15,
2016; and interview with Jennie Larsson, Integration Researcher, Public Employment Service, April 13, 2016