Job openings and recruitment needs, second quarter 2026

Labour demand on the rise

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-08-28 8.00

During the second quarter, there were a total of 159 500 job openings on the Swedish labour market. That was 8 percent more openings than during the second quarter of 2025, but the difference is within the margin of uncertainty.

– We can see that the total labour demand was on the rise during the second quarter 2026 after a longer period of lower demand, says Lena Österberg, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

 For 106 100 of the job openings, the employer wanted immediate entry  

The 159 500 job openings were in different categories:

  • Recruitment method: Of the job openings, 127 500 were advertised while 32 100 were job openings where the employer had tried to recruit in other ways.
  • Desired access: The number of job openings where the employer wanted immediate access amounted to 106 100.
  • Excluding temporary work: The number of job vacancies, excluding temporary work, amounted to 125 300.

The total number of job openings applies to the whole economy. In the table the different sectors are presented. The majority of the total number of job openings was requested in the business sector. In public administration alone, most job openings was requested in municipalities. 

Majority of job openings in the business sector

Job openings by sector, second quarter 2026
  Number of job openings
All sectors 159 500
Business sector 122 400
Non-profit institutions serving households 5 200
Public administration 31 900
Central government 7 100
County councils 5 400
Municipalities 19 400

In relation to the number of employments, there were 2.9 job openings per 100 employments during the second quarter of the year, of which 1.9 were job openings to be filled immediately.

From a regional perspective, more than 50 percent of job openings were located in the Metropolitan counties of Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne. However, relative to the number of employments, the distribution was different.

Number of job openings, per 100 employments

By county, second quarter 2026

Definitions and explanations

  • The sample in the survey Job openings and recruitment needs consists of 23 450 local units within the business sector, municipalities, county councils, and central government administration.
  • The statistics are subject to uncertainty. Therefore, estimated margins of error are reported in the Statistical Database.
  • Seasonally adjusted values are initially available for the total number of job openings and is presented together with the unadjusted time series for the total number of job openings in the same table.

Current publication

The report for the second quarter of 2026 concerns statistics on job openings.

Next publishing will be

2026-11-27

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Statistical Database

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