New to Sweden

As we say goodbye to 2024, we wanted to send our warmest wishes to all of you! 💙 From the whole New to Sweden team, we hope this holiday season brings you joy and laughter with the people you love. We hope you have a chance to rest and reflect on all you’ve accomplished. As always, a warm thank you for supporting our work this year. We couldn’t ask for a better community, and we look forward to sharing more with you in 2025. See you in the new year! ✨ #DiversityAndInclusion #HappyHolidays #NewToSweden

🥳 New to Sweden turned 4 this past November, and we’re so grateful for the new opportunities and growth the year has brought. Here are some 2024 highlights that have meant a lot to us: • Over 600 participants during our Ready to Work sessions! • A talented and compassionate team of 25 strong! • 19,000 total followers across all our channels! ‼️ • A big win for the 1046 Inclusion Initiative: the Nordics-wide Blaze Inclusion Award for Catalyst! 🏆 To all of our partners and supporters, and to all of the internationals in Sweden who’ve let us be a part of your journey, thank you so much for a wonderful year. We can’t wait to celebrate more milestones with you in 2025! ✨ #DiversityAndInclusion #Sweden #1046Sverige

Let’s talk about international students and brain waste in Sweden. Throughout the fall, we’ve shared data from an investigation by Lighthouse Reports about unemployment, overqualification, and under-employment for foreign-born vs. Swedish-born college graduates. This data has looked at college-educated people as a whole, no matter where they studied. But what happens if we focus on where foreign-born graduates earned their degrees? Let’s find out. 🔎 Rates of overqualification, unemployment, and under-employment are higher for internationals educated in Sweden compared to people born in Sweden. And the rates are higher still for internationals who were educated abroad. For 2017–2022, the unemployment rate for Swedish-born college graduates was 2.08%. The rate was 4.06% for internationals educated in Sweden and 10.75% for internationals educated abroad (the third highest rate in Europe). When it comes to rates of unemployment, under-employment, and overqualification, the gap between Swedish-born graduates and foreign-born graduates who were educated abroad is larger for Sweden than the European average — those born in Sweden are doing better, but internationals educated abroad are doing worse. How about internationals who came to Sweden to study vs. internationals with degrees who moved for other reasons? Lighthouse Reports broke down data from 2021 by four immigrant categories based on reasons for relocating: asylum seekers, education, economic, and family. Those who moved for education were the least likely immigrant group to be overqualified for their roles, but they were most likely to be under-employed. In addition, their unemployment rate was 6.58%, but it was only 2.03% for those born in Sweden. Out of the 16 countries which include unemployment data for both internationals who moved for education and people born in the country, internationals in Sweden had the 4th highest unemployment rate. In contrast, the rate for those born in Sweden was 11th highest. So while international students in Sweden tend to fare better than internationals already holding degrees from abroad, there is still a striking difference between their employment outcomes compared to college graduates born in Sweden. What can we do to change that? Explore the data here: https://lnkd.in/djv5ip_A #BrainWaste #InternationalStudents #Sverige

How does your length of stay in Sweden impact employment outcomes? 🤔 This past month, we’ve shared statistics from an investigation by Lighthouse Reports about unemployment, overqualification, and under-employment for foreign-born college graduates versus those born in Sweden. Last week, we looked at the impact of language knowledge on these statistics. Now, let’s look at the length of residence. In short, yes, it matters how long people have been in Sweden. For each of the three stats, people who migrated more than 10 years ago are doing better than those who migrated less than 10 years ago. And that makes sense. It takes time to learn the language, build a network, and adapt to cultural norms – the things that likely lead you to a better employment situation. But even internationals who have lived in Sweden for more than a decade are doing significantly worse than those born here. Foreign-born graduates with 10+ years in Sweden are still over twice as likely to be unemployed than those born here. For 2017–2022, the unemployment rate is 2.08% for Swedish-born graduates and 4.62% for foreign-born graduates who have lived here for at least a decade. That rate jumps to 12.05% for foreign-born graduates who moved here less than 10 years ago. In other words, they are almost 6 times more likely (!) to be unemployed than those born in Sweden. Looking at the EU averages for unemployment, under-employment, and overqualification, Swedish-born graduates are doing better than average, but internationals who moved less than 10 years ago are doing worse. And in general, rates for internationals with 10+ years in Sweden are around that average. For reference, Europe’s average unemployment rate for college graduates is 3.25% for those born in the country, 5.16% for those who moved more than 10 years ago, and only 8.18% for those who moved less than 10 years ago. What can we do to help more recently arrived internationals find their way in the Swedish labour market more quickly? And how can we help continue improving the situation for those who have been here longer? Check out the data for yourself: https://lnkd.in/djv5ip_A #BrainWaste #Overqualification #Unemployment #Sverige

We were honoured to be part of last week’s important 1046 Sverige event at the Riksdag, all about sharing new stories and perspectives from across the country. A more inclusive Sweden means a more inclusive labour market where foreign-born talent can contribute and thrive. That’s one of the many reasons we’re proud to be among the 36 (and counting!) partner organizations in the 1046 Inclusion Initiative. Thank you to moderator Maureen Hoppers and panelists Lola Akinmade, Essi Alho, and Marlen Eskander for your generosity in lending your voices to this important discussion. A big thanks as well to Elna Nord, Jörgen Löwenfeldt, and Anna Fredholm for sharing your work at the Nordic Museum to shine a spotlight on previously untold stories in Sweden and beyond. And of course, our gratitude goes out to Momodou Malcolm Jallow for making it possible to have these conversations in such a meaningful space! And a shout out to 1046 co-founders Brandon Sekitto and Greg Fernando for helping to get this whole ball rolling! We’ve said it a lot, but it’s worth repeating: change happens through collaboration. We all have a voice to use, and we’re louder together. 💙 #Inclusion #1046Sverige #Riksdagen

What an incredible year! 🤩 Warm thanks to all 600+ international jobseekers who joined us for Ready to Work in 2024. Each of you has so much to offer the Swedish labour market. It was an honor to learn more about your skills and experience and to get to be a part of your journey to getting your dream job. Of course the program wouldn’t have been the same without our awesome guest speakers. A big thank you to Karin Björkman 🧩, Jacob Lundén-Welden, Lotta Thun, Kaveri Sinhji, and Melanie Parmeter! You were so generous with your advice and encouragement for our jobseekers. And certainly none of this would be possible without the amazing team at IBM SkillsBuild! Their support for internationals truly warms our hearts. And connecting program participants with free access to IBM SkillsBuild and Udemy is a gamechanger! 🎉 Ready to Work will be back in 2025. Until then, we wish all the best to our incredible participants — and we hope you’ll share with us when you land your next opportunity. 💙 #Sverige #Arbetsmarknad #DiversityAndInclusion

In October, we shared unemployment statistics for college-educated internationals in Sweden versus those born in Sweden. But what’s the situation if you're employed? 🔍 Let’s look again at the investigation by Lighthouse Reports, which includes all foreign-born people with degrees, not just international students. According to that data, even college-educated internationals in Sweden who have jobs are more often overqualified for their roles. That’s defined as having an education level greater than is typical for your occupation. Or to really drill down, it means being more educated than approximately 84% of the people who share your occupation. According to data from 2021, 43.5% of foreign-born college graduates in Sweden were overqualified for their jobs. In comparison, only 27.1% of those born in Sweden were overqualified. 💬 Of course Swedish language skills play a role, but they are not the only factor. Looking closer at that number from 2021, 53.9% of internationals with poorer knowledge of Swedish were overqualified, while still 36% of those with proficient Swedish were overqualified. College-educated people who were born outside Sweden are also more likely to be under-employed, meaning they work part-time but are available (and want) to work more hours. Looking again at data from 2021, 3.73% of foreign-born college graduates in Sweden were under-employed. Only 1.55% of those born in Sweden were similarly under-employed. What can we do to ensure that internationals in Sweden are not only employed, but have jobs that match their educational qualifications and desired working hours? Explore the data on overqualification and under-employment in Sweden and Europe here: https://lnkd.in/djv5ip_A #BrainWaste #Overqualification #Sverige

9,000 strong! 🥳 We're absolutely thrilled to have each and every one of you on this journey with us. Your engagement truly fuels our passion to create meaningful change in the Swedish labour market. We're so grateful for the people we've met along the way, from our incredible team to our wonderful partners and supporters. Here's to many more milestones together! Cheers to diversity, inclusion, and a brighter future. #DiversityAndInclusion #Community #Milestone

We’re excited to share that the 1046 Sverige Inclusion Initiative is coming to the Riksdag! On Nov. 20th, New to Sweden will join other 1046 Initiative partners for an important conversation at the Riksdag. The event — “Sweden’s history and diversity – Migration, untold stories, and the path to inclusion” — will explore the underrepresented voices in Nordic and Swedish history that have helped form our society. Our very own Greg Fernando will join a fantastic line-up of speakers and panelists to discuss how we’ve been shaped by the past and how we can build a future where everyone in Sweden can feel included. 💙 #Inclusion #Riksdagen #1046Sverige

✨ The Ready to Work program for jobseekers is back! Get insights on networking in Sweden, shaping a strong CV and LinkedIn profile, and interacting with recruiters. Join us Nov. 11–14 for 4 interactive sessions on Zoom. These courses cover every step of your job search, from your application materials to your wellbeing as a jobseeker. You’ll also connect with a community of fellow internationals facing the same ups and downs as you. 💙 As always, our collaboration with IBM SkillsBuild means that Ready to Work participants can get 6 months of free access to Udemy courses! 🤩 Registration closes Nov. 8th! Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/dKu4-JDv #JobSearch #Jobseekers #WorkingInSweden