Report examines position of immigrants with professional qualifications

Sweden is facing increasing skill shortages, but only 39% of non-EU immigrant professional workers have a job corresponding to their competence level, compared with 85% of professionals born in Sweden. Foreign-born professional workers with university degrees from countries outside the EU have particular difficulties in finding appropriate jobs. These are among the findings of a report published by the Labour Market Board in July 2001.

In early July 2001, the Swedish Labour Market Board (Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen, AMS) published a report based on a study of the labour market for immigrant professional workers who came to Sweden between 1991 and 1997. The 6,922 individuals examined in the study were aged between 26 and 45 years, had at least a three-year professional education and were born in a country outside the European Union. A majority (80%) of the workers originated from Europe outside the EU and Asia. In the 1990s, many people from Bosnia-Herzegovina emigrated to Sweden, along with people from Iran and Iraq, a fact reflected by the individuals represented in the study.

The study drawn up by two AMS researchers - Katarina Berggren and Abukar Omarsson- makes comparisons between professional workers born in Sweden and the immigrant professionals examined. The data for the report (Rätt man på fel plats - en studie av arbetsmarknaden för utlandsfödda akademiker som invandrat under 1900-talet, AMS Utredningsenhet, Ura 2001:5) were gathered from a survey carried out by Sweden Statistics (Statistiska Centralbyrån, SCB) in 2000.

The study finds that there are major differences between professionals born abroad and professionals born in Sweden in terms of employment rate, type of employment (qualified and unqualified) and unemployment. The researchers find that it is "much more uncommon" among professional workers born abroad to have a job corresponding to their competence level (termed a "qualified job" in the study). Some 39% of immigrant professional workers have such a job, compared with 85% of professionals born in Sweden.

Employment/unemployment

The share of foreign-born professionals having any job, qualified or unqualified, is found to be 65%, whereas the figure for Swedish-born professionals is 90%. The proportion of the former who are unemployed or taking part in employment measures is 15%, compared with 2% for the latter. Some 18% of the immigrant professionals are involved in university studies, compared with 3% of Swedish-born professionals.

The chance of an immigrant professional worker being in possession of a qualified job varies, depending on where they were born, where they underwent their higher education (ie Sweden or abroad) and the valuation placed on their foreign education. Around 64% of professionals born abroad who hold a Swedish university degree have a qualified job - some 20 percentage points higher than the rate among foreign-born professionals with a degree from a university abroad. Among male graduates with a degree from abroad, 49.3% have a qualified job, compared with 42.0% for their female counterparts (incidentally, this is the only gender distinction made in the report - of the total population surveyed, female university graduates account for 54% and male graduates for 46%).

The survey also indicates that only 44% of foreign professionals with a degree in technology or natural sciences had a qualified job in 2000, with the remainder either in an unqualified job, unemployed, taking part in labour market measures or studying. Among foreign-born healthcare professionals, 53% - mostly doctors - are employed. However, 64% of the doctors have qualified jobs, compared with only 44% of the nurses.

Where do the qualified workers with an unqualified job work? A third of the technology/natural science professionals perform unqualified tasks in the industrial, technical and building sectors. About 70% of those with humanities or social science university degree work in the service sector. An important observation that the researchers make in the study is that those who perform unqualified tasks to a large extent do so for employers in the "right" sector (ie that matching their area of skill) but in the "wrong" place (ie in less skilled positions than appropriate). Swedish employers should therefore draw up a better "inventory of competence" of their own staff, so as to be able to take advantage of their foreign-born workers' competences.

Commentary

The survey shows that there is a huge potential reserve of skills and labour power among people born abroad with a university degree. Many foreign-born people are working in the "wrong" place in the Swedish labour market. This is true for those professionals with an unqualified job, as well as for those who are unemployed, in labour market measures or studying. The results also confirm the importance of an appropriate valuation of foreign education, in order to improve the chances of workers' born abroad to find a job in the Swedish labour market. The researchers point to a need for a body that has the competence to evaluate foreign university degrees and professional experience. At present, it is the National Agency for Higher Education (Högskoleverket) that is responsible for the evaluation of higher education abroad. It may not be necessary to create another authority, but it is clear that the National Agency should be given more resources to make it easier for foreign professionals to look for qualified jobs in Sweden. It must also be said that the employers have a great responsibility, both to take care of the foreign workers that they employ, as well as in employing new staff.

The general director of AMS, Anders L Johansson, pointed out when the report was presented that immigrant workers constitute a large and well-educated labour force resource. Especially in times of labour and skill shortages, it is important to be aware of the professional competence of workers born and educated abroad. Mr Johansson was probably referring to the discussion that has been going on, if rather vaguely, for some time, about what is to be done when a large group of workers born in the 1940s retire in about five to 10 years. Local and city councils are already alarmed about a growing need for more workers in the healthcare and education sectors, with more nurses and teachers particularly required. Calls for an organised increase in the immigration of foreign workers have diminished lately. Surely it must be more practical to start with the immigrant professionals already in the country, and help them to find adequate jobs. (Annika Berg, Arbetslivsinstitutet)