Job openings and recruitment needs, 2025
Total shortage of 61 000 people according to employers
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-03-06 8.00
Last year, Swedish employers experienced a labour shortage of 61 000 people across various occupations. The size of the shortage was roughly the same for occupations that require upper secondary education as for occupations that require post secondary education. This is shown in Statistics Sweden’s survey Job openings and recruitment needs, which for the second time presents statistics on the skills shortage in the Swedish labour market.
Labour shortage was lower in 2025 than in 2024, when employers reported a total shortage of 70 000 people. The shortage did not decrease in any specific occupation or occupational field, but instead reflected a more general decline within many occupations.
In occupations that typically require post‑secondary education, employers were short of nearly 30 000 people. In occupations corresponding to upper‑secondary education, employers instead were short of 27 000 people.
Labour shortage in different occupational fields
| Code in SSYK | Major group | Number of missing staff | Margin of error |
| 1 | Managers | 2 000 | 500 |
| 2 | Occupations requiring advanced level of higher education | 20 000 | 2 200 |
| 3 | Occupations requiring higher education qualifications or equivalent | 9 700 | 1 100 |
| 4 | Administration and customer service clerks | 1 200 | 300 |
| 5 | Service, care and shop sales workers | 10 500 | 1 600 |
| 6 | Agricultural, horticultural, forestry and fishery workers | 800 | 300 |
| 7 | Building and manufacturing workers | 10 500 | 1 300 |
| 8 | Mechanical manufacturing and transport workers, etc. | 3 700 | 700 |
| 9 | Elementary occupations | 3 000 | 1 000 |
| Total | 61 400 | 3 700 |
Recruitment needs in several occupations
Labour shortages – defined as work not being done despite employers having the possibility to hire – existed in several occupations and areas.
12 occupational groups with labour shortage
| Occupation | Number of missing staff |
| ICT architects, systems analysts and test managers | 4 000 |
| Primary- and pre-school teachers | 2 700 |
| Personal care workers in health services | 2 600 |
| Carpenters, bricklayers and construction workers | 2 600 |
| Physical and engineering science technicians | 2 300 |
| Engineering professionals | 2 000 |
| Insurance advisers, sales and purchasing agents | 1 900 |
| Machinery mechanics and fitters | 1 600 |
| Nursing professionals | 1 600 |
| Medical doctors | 1 500 |
| Shop staff | 1 500 |
| Roofers, floor layers, plumbers and pipefitters | 1 500 |
Among the occupations trained in the vocational programmes of the Swedish upper secondary school, the employers experienced a shortage of carpenters, care workers in health care, as well as machinery mechanics and fitters. As in 2024, a relatively large share of employers had difficulties finding heating and air conditioning mechanics in the last six months.
Within the field of healthcare, there was a shortage of
- 1 500 physicians, of whom 1 400 were specialist physicians
- 1 600 nurses, of whom 700 were specialist nurses
- 2 600 assistant nurses.
More than half of the employers within health care had experienced difficulties in recruiting specialist physicians, radiology nurses, as well as specialist nurses in psychiatry, anaesthesia, ambulance care, intensive care and surgery.
Within the field of IT, employers were short of 4 000 people in occupations that require extended post-secondary education, primarily software and system developers. In addition, there was a shortage of 700 ICT operations and user support technicians. However, over the past six months, nine out of ten employers who tried to recruit within these occupational groups always or often succeeded in finding staff with the right qualifications.
Within the field of technology, the employers reported a shortage of 4 300 engineers and technicians, particularly in mechanical engineering. Despite this, a majority of employers over the past six months had always or often succeeded in recruiting engineers and technicians with the right qualifications.
Within the field of education, there was a total shortage of 3 300 teachers. Out of these
- 1 000 were preschool teachers
- 700 primary school teachers
- 1 000 recreation instructors
- 300 special teachers and special needs teachers.
Many schools had difficulties recruiting vocational teachers in the Vehicle and Transport Programme and the Building and Construction Programme, respectively. However, a majority of employers had always or often succeeded in recruiting preschool teachers, primary school teachers for grade F–6, and Swedish language subject teachers.
Definitions and explanations
- The sample in the survey Job openings and recruitment needs consists of 23 500 local units within the business sector, municipalities, county councils, and central government administration, of which 20 300 local units have at least five employees.
- The statistics on recruitment experiences and recruitment needs by occupation refer to local units with at least five employees.
- Regarding recruitment needs by occupation, respondents are asked the question: ‘Regardless of whether or not you have attempted to recruit staff: Approximately how many people are you short of per occupation, where the work is not being done today?’
- Regarding recruitment experiences by occupation, respondents are asked the question: ‘How often were you able to recruit staff with the right qualifications for the following occupational groups?’
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For 2025, data were collected for the first and third quarters, with collection taking place from January to May and from July to November, respectively. Approximately half of the sample received the questions during each period.
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For 2024, data were collected only for the third quarter, but from the entire sample.
- The proportions used for analysing recruitment experiences by occupation are weighted by the average number of employees in the occupation, based on information in SCB's register.
- The statistics are subject to uncertainty. Therefore, estimated margins of error are reported in the Statistical Database.