Stockholm: Södertörn matches unique labour

While companies have difficulty getting hold of labour, many jobseekers have difficulty finding work — this ought to be a golden opportunity for matching.

That is the basic idea in the Södertörn Business Matching project being run by eight municipalities in Södertörn, south of Stockholm. The European Regional Development Fund is putting up SEK 10 million for the project.

Previous studies among companies in Södertörn have shown that labour shortages and a shortage of labour with the right skills are one of the most serious barriers to growth. At the same time, these municipalities have a large proportion of people with foreign backgrounds and it is often harder for them than for other jobseekers to enter the labour market.

Challenge of matching

So the challenge is to match these jobseekers, who often have unique knowledge and skills about other countries, with the labour needs of companies.

“But if the person the company is looking for is not among new arrivals, we obviously go on to look at other jobseekers," says Leif Öbrink, the project manager. During the three years the project will run, 3000 companies will be contacted, and matching agents will use personal visits to find out about the companies´ needs of labour in the short and long term.

The companies will also be offered skills development in matters concerning diversity with regard to gender, ethnicity and disabilities. As part of the project, meeting places will also be set up for jobseekers and entrepreneurs and it will also be possible to offer jobseekers work tests of jobs.

Sister project

The Södertörn Business Matching project also has a ‘sister project´, Södertörn Labour Matching. This project, supported by the European Social Fund, concentrates on the individuals who are outside the labour market.

The objective of both projects is to establish a permanent organisation for matching in Södertörn. This work will be made easier by the cooperation between the business sector, the municipalities and the Public Employment Service that will be developed during the project period.

In the longer term a further aim is for the needs of the business sector to steer more of the content and direction of the labour market and training programmes of the municipalities and the Public Employment Service.

Read the article in Swedish