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The labour market in 2018 for foreign born persons with a higher education

Major differences in employment between highly educated foreign born and Swedish born persons

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-03-13 9.30

The share of persons who had work as their main activity between 10–16 September 2018 differed greatly between foreign born persons with a higher education who immigrated to Sweden in the period 2006–2017 and Swedish born persons. Among foreign born persons, seven out of ten had work as their main activity, while the corresponding share among Swedish born persons was nine out of ten.

The share of unemployed persons also differed considerably between foreign born persons and Swedish born persons. Among foreign born persons, roughly eight percent were unemployed, while the corresponding share among Swedish born persons was roughly two percent.

Main activity in the week of 10–16 September 2018 Percent

Graph

The group “Other” includes persons who are in labour market policy programmes, on parental leave, persons on sick leave, with activity compensation, etc.

Major differences within the group of foreign born persons

The share of persons who had work as their main activity during the measurement week in September was considerably larger among foreign born men than among foreign born women. Eight out of ten foreign born men had work as their main activity, compared with six out of ten foreign born women. Foreign born women studied and had parental leave to a greater extent than foreign born men. The differences between men and women were considerably smaller among Swedish born persons. Roughly nine out of ten had work as their main activity, both among men and women.

The share of persons who had work as their main activity also differs depending on their date and reason for immigration. Among foreign born persons who immigrated to Sweden in the period 2006–2009, eight out of ten persons had work as their main activity, compared with six out of ten among those who immigrated to Sweden in the period 2014–2017.
Among persons who came to Sweden for asylum, more than five out of ten had work as their main activity, while among those who came to Sweden for employment, nine out of ten had work as their main activity.

Employment consistent with education

There were also major differences between foreign born persons and Swedish born persons with regard to their match between work and education. Roughly 55 percent of all foreign born persons with work as their main activity had work that was consistent with their education, compared with just under 80 percent among Swedish born persons. Foreign born persons also had work that did not require a higher education to a much greater extent than Swedish born persons. Among foreign born persons, 25 percent had work that did not require a higher education, while the corresponding share among Swedish born persons was roughly 6 percent.

The match between employment and education differed considerably between various fields of education among foreign born persons. Among those with education in health and medical care, seven out of ten had work that was consistent with their education. In natural sciences and technology, this share was slightly lower, 65 percent, while among those with education in teaching, the humanities and social sciences, roughly four out of ten had work that completely or to a large extent matched their education.

Match between work and education in the week of 10–16 September 2018, by field of education. Foreign born persons Percent

Chart

Many foreign born persons lack contacts

A lack of contacts was by far the most common reason why foreign born persons had difficulties in getting positions that they applied for in their field of education during the last three years. Just under 50 percent agreed completely or to a large extent with this statement. The second most common reason was difficulty with the Swedish language.

Definitions and explanations

The labour market for foreign born persons with a higher education is a sample survey that was carried out in the period September to November 2018. Information was collected via postal surveys and internet surveys. The survey included foreign born persons aged 25-64 with at least three years of post secondary education who had immigrated to Sweden in the period 2006–2017. The survey also included a small sample of Swedish born persons aged 25–64 with at least three years of post secondary education.

The purpose of the survey is to illustrate the situation on the labour market for highly educated foreign born persons, to what extent they have work and how well their work matches their education and any differences compared with highly educated Swedish born persons. The questions about current work referred to the week of 10–16 September 2018.

Publication

A more detailed report of this survey has been published in the theme report:

Arbetsmarknaden 2018 för högutbildade utrikes födda (PDF) (Swedish with elements of English)

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.

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Statistics Sweden, Education and Jobs

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