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This report is part of Statistics Sweden's work with the government assignment to attract and retain international expertise "Work in Sweden". It contains the results of a survey sent to SMEs on employers' experiences and plans to recruit qualified international skills.

We asked for the recruitment of qualified people directly from abroad, foreign nationals who have been here for a short time and international students with a degree from Sweden.

What is the experience of SMEs in recruiting international talent?

• One in five companies that have recruited qualified staff in the past two years have hired international expertise from the EU/EEA or countries outside. Knowledge-intensive companies distinguish themselves by recruiting qualified staff from outside the EU/EEA to a greater extent.
• The proportion is the same regardless of whether companies have difficulty finding skills in Sweden or not.
• Interest in international recruitment in the future is limited. Of all small and medium-sized companies with recruitment plans for the next six months, 15 percent are considering recruiting internationally, among knowledge-intensive companies the proportion is higher.

Why hire international talent?

• Access to the necessary skills is cited as the main benefit of international recruitment.
• Knowledge-intensive companies often state that international recruitment has increased their innovation and development capacity.

What obstacles do companies see when recruiting labour immigrants?

• Companies report difficulties in finding qualified international staff, and this is also the case for knowledge-intensive companies.
• Very few companies use the EURES service to find qualified people in the EU.
• When recruiting staff from third countries, administration is perceived as a challenge for many companies.