Statistics Sweden has produced a new report within the government assignment “Work in Sweden”. The report analyses the results of a survey of small and medium-sized firms focusing on the firms experiences of and plans to recruit international, qualified personnel.

- The survey shows that international recruitment is relatively unusual even if it could be a possible answer for firms that have problems finding the right competence in Sweden. The firms report difficulty knowing where to find international candidates in general. Regarding recruitment of citizens of non-EU/EEA countries, the administrative burden and lack of knowledge on laws and regulations are also hurdles that firms find too high, says Nikolaus Koutakis, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

Some other results from the report are:

• One out of five small and medium-sized firms that have recruited during the last two years have hired qualified international personnel from the EU/EEA or from third countries.
• Recruitment is done directly from other countries but also among persons who already are in Sweden. It is significantly less common to hire recently graduated international students from Swedish universities.
• Social media and personal contacts are the most common recruitment channels. Knowledge-intensive firms use more direct headhunting than other small and medium-sized firms. A very small share use Eures to recruit persons from EU/ESA. Eures, the European Employment Services, connects jobseekers with employers across EU/EEA countries and Switzerland by providing information and employment support services.
• Three out of four small and medium-sized firms report that they can integrate foreign personnel and support them in practical matters. Most also report that it is possible to use English as the working language.
• Firms that have recruited internationally have a positive attitude towards international recruitment. One third are very positive and about half are somewhat positive. Only two percent are negative.