Question Clarified Salary Thresholds for Swedish Work Permits: Does the List of Exempted Jobs Carry Significance?
In the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, available exclusively for Membership+ subscribers, Hanna Geurtsen, an official from the Swedish Migration Agency, discusses a new list of jobs that could be exempted from a future salary threshold for work permits.
The list, which consists of 152 occupations, has been put together by Hanna Geurtsen and her team due to skills shortages in these areas. Notably, engineers, nurses, and maintenance technicians are included, but so are lesser-paid roles such as cleaners, cooks, and waiters.
The rationale behind these exemptions is to allow labor immigration in shortage occupations without forcing salaries to the median level. However, the Swedish Migration Agency is keen to emphasize the importance of preventing abuse such as forced labor and human trafficking, especially in lower-wage jobs.
The full list, which was released publicly, includes various types of engineers, nurses, maintenance technicians, cleaners, cooks, and waiters. The exact complete list of all 152 jobs is available via the Migration Agency and Employment Service submissions.
In the interview, Hanna Geurtsen discusses the practical impact of the new list, covering how and why it was put together. She also provides insights into the potential impact of the new list on work permits.
The episode comes amid plans to raise the salary requirement for work permits from 80 percent to 100 percent of the Swedish median salary, approximately 37,100 kronor. It remains uncertain whether the salary threshold increase and exemptions will be finalized by the government.
Two jobs have been rated as 'high risk' for work permits by the Swedish Migration Agency, but the new list aims to mitigate these risks by closely monitoring and addressing them.
In summary, the core exempted jobs include engineers, nurses, maintenance technicians, cleaners, cooks, and waiters, along with about 146 other professions identified mainly due to labor shortages. The interview with Hanna Geurtsen provides valuable insights into this important topic, shedding light on the rationale behind the exemptions and their potential impact on work permits in Sweden.
In the interview, Hanna Geurtsen discusses the potential impact of the new list on business sectors, providing insights into how this list of jobs, which includes engineers, nurses, maintenance technicians, cleaners, cooks, and waiters, among others, could alleviate labor shortages in these industries. The interview highlights the importance of finance, as the new list aims to facilitate migration in shortage occupations while preventing instances of forced labor and human trafficking.
