Recruitment to Occupations with a Surplus of Workers: The Unexpected Outcomes of Swedish Demand‐Driven Labour Migration Policy
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12222 |
| Author | Henrik Emilsson |
Recruitment to Occupations with a Surplus of
Workers: The Unexpected Outcomes of
Swedish Demand-Driven Labour Migration
Policy
Henrik Emilsson*
ABSTRACT
This article studies the outcomes of the 2008 labour-migration policy change in Sweden,
when most state control was abolished and an employer-led selection was introduced. The
main goal was to increase labour migration from third countries to occupational sectors
experiencing labour shortages. The article compares the volume, composition and labour-
market status of labour migrants who arrived before the change in the law with those who
arrived after. Labour migrants from EU countries are used as a control group to assess any
eventual influence from non-migration policy determinants. The main outcome of the policy
change is that non-EU labour migration increased –an effect entirely due to the rise in
labour migration to surplus occupations. Changes in the composition of the labour migrants
explains why those who came after the law change have, on average, a worse labour market
position.
INTRODUCTION
What happens when the state entrusts the power to select labour migrants to individual employers?
This question seems unlikely in a world where countries tend to increase their efforts to control
migration flows. When it comes to labour migration, for example, there is a trend towards more
selective policies, where states try to attract high-skilled migrants while restricting low-skilled
migrants to temporary migration programmes with less access to rights (De Somer, 2012; Ruhs,
2013). In general, there is a trade-off between generous admission policies and the set of rights
which labour migrants have. The rights are also often very different for low- and high-skilled
labour migrants (Ruhs, 2013). None of these trends applies to the Swedish case. In fact, the coun-
try has done the complete opposite. The new law on labour migration that came into force on 15
December 2008 abolished the labour market test and introduced a non-selective demand-driven
labour migration policy where individual employers were given the power to select migrant work-
ers.
The aim of this article is to study the outcomes of the 2008 labour migration policy change in
Sweden. It follows the conceptual framework of migration policy effects and effectiveness outlined
by Czaika and de Haas (2013). The policy outcomes are analysed by comparing the volume, com-
position and labour market status of the labour migrants who came after the reform with those of
*Malm€
o University, Sweden
doi: 10.1111/imig.12222
©2015 The Author
International Migration ©2015 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (2) 2016
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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