Job openings and recruitment needs, 2025
Half of the labour shortage was in the metropolitan counties
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-07-02 8.00
Half of the labour shortage employers experienced in 2025 was in Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne County. This is shown by new regional labour market statistics from Statistics Sweden.
In 2025 there was a total labour shortage – defined as work not being done despite employers having the possibility to hire – of 61 400 people. In counties Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne, employers had a shortage of 5 200, 8 800 and 7 700 people, respectively. This implies that about half of the labour shortage was in the metropolian counties of Sweden, and the rest of the shortage in other counties.
Labour shortage by county
A new table in the Statistical Database now presents the number of missing staff by county. The statistics are available by occupational field (nine fields according to the Swedish Standard Classification of Occupations, SSYK) as well as by a specific grouping of occupational fields:
- Managers (occupational field 1)
- Occupations typically requiring post-secondary education (occupational field 2–3)
- Occupations typically requiring upper secondary education or equivalent (occupational field 4–8)
- Elementary occupations (occupational field 9)
In the future, the statistics will be expanded to include the share of missing staff relative to the number of employments. This will enable analysis of relative labour shortages.
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?’
- 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.
- The weighted response rate was 84 percent for the first quarter and 87 percent for the third quarter of 2025, for local units with at least five employees.
- For more information on the Swedish Standard Classification of Occupations, see The Swedish Occupational Register with statistics.