The real reasons behind Swedish unemployment levels

Someone posted a commentary on the levels of unemployment among the young in Sweden on The Local's website. As an employer myself, I simply had to comment. The following is a summary of my views. They may be harsh, but they are heartfelt. Believe me when I say that these were my objective views. Imagine if I had been subjective. Hopefully they will give an insight to the deep sense of frustration small businessmen and businesswomen feel in this country.

Why are the levels of unemployment as high as they are in Sweden?

1) It is bloody expensive to employ anyone in Sweden. Due to the massive proportions of the propaganda machine, this fact is largely ignored/disbelieved. Most Swedes naively believe that they pay between 26 and 36 percent of their salary in taxes, since much of what is actually paid by the employer is hidden, or not printed on the salary statements. So to many ignorant employees, the companies/their owners are the demons, because they can afford so much and yet refuse to pander to their employees' every whim. Yes, we really do pay as much as 2x an employee's salary for the privilege of employing that person, who then goes skiing and breaks his leg as soon as he gets a permanent contract so that we can be saddled with an additional 15% in sickness benefit contribution for the 3 years he decides that he will need to recuperate (because it's always the employer's fault). If insurance and other benefits are included then the actual figure lies closer to 3x the "official" salary. This is one of the greatest obstacles to employment. No-one wants to go bankrupt from day 1.

2) While many Swedes do work hard, the sad truth is that there are many who are inherently lazy. There is no "nice" way to say that. Sweden has become a nation of wusses who have been taught never to take responsibility for their actions, who don't realise that actions have consequences and who fall to pieces at the slightest hint of real work, despite boasting about their ability to manage stressful situations. I have never in my life worked in a country where so many people need a "handledare", to hold their hand and tell them how to do their jobs or do it for them or give them more than normal levels of praise for doing an average or below-average job. In the same light, I have never visited a country where the genuinely talented people were so cruelly disregarded and/or knocked down to size in the name of "equality", while trying to force people into the same mould and pretend that everyone has the exact same levels of talent and capability.

3) Education does not pay. The janitor who dropped out of school expects to get (and usually gets) the same salary as a senior administrator or higher who worked hard, went to university and has years of experience.

4) While pretending to be modest, Swedes tend to grossly overestimate the true worth of their qualifications and their professional capabilities. This makes it extremely difficult to find truly competent staff, regardless of how many there appear to be. This is perhaps due to too much networking and the need to constantly impress new, fleeting contacts. The BIGGEST and most arrogant mistake is the general assumption that foreign qualifications and experiences are somehow (or must be) inferior to Swedish ones. A case in point: in my foreign B.Sc. engineering programme, prospective engineers were regarded as prospective managers. We were thus taught management skills and economics alongside the engineering subjects. Both sections of the programme were compulsory. A graduate engineer was therefore more likely to be selected for a management position (even without an MBA) over a person with an MBA, under the premise that "an engineer is by definition a manager - and a good one at that." Most of my friends moved effortlessly from engineering to management careers within a few years, as it was widely appreciated that they had a solid foundation in both the business and technical aspects of any dealings. To do that in Sweden you would have to do a new university degree or go on numerous "project leader" courses. Swedish engineers do not learn anything about economics or management in their programmes. So I witnessed Ph.D. students designing wild solutions that cost many millions more than the actual problem that was to be solved. Swedish engineers tend to be regarded as little more than technicians or project workers, while engineers are regarded as highly skilled individuals in other countries. I left university and went straight into a management position in my first job at 21 years of age, with technicians reporting to me. Swedish engineers join trainee programmes. Now if I compare with engineers from China, Japan, India, Russia, the Middle East and the Baltics, who would I employ? Another problem is with the quality of the work: what many Swedes learn at their fictitious "Master's" level (see explanation below) is what foreigners learn at the 3-year B.Sc. level (e.g. UK and commonwealth), with minimum supervision.

When you are abroad, you hear much about how many experts and consultants Sweden has, etc., the typical statistical drivel. Of course, your ears perk up: overseas, a consultant is held in high esteem, usually has years of working experience, usually a Ph.D., or at least a proper Master's degree (note that the Swedish civilingenjörsexamen is actually a B.Sc., regardless of the fancy translation they have chosen - that is why the students who do their thesis work in the US are called undergraduate students, not graduate students). A foreign consultant is used to independent work, formulating thoughts, running projects, managing budgets and making decisions. So based on this preconceived definition you arrive and realise that everyone in Sweden is a consultant. And everyone is an expert. Because if you get hit by a bus then you can suddenly become a consultant on the trauma involved in coping with such an ordeal. And you can go around giving "lectures" and inspirational speeches on the subject. There were "consultants" at Ericson who had only got their B.Sc. degrees from KTH (The Royal Institute of Technology) three weeks before - and they had supervisors on the job. But consultants don't have supervisors, do they? I mean, aren't they usually the ones running the show? I was puzzled beyond words, baffled beyond belief.

5) Work ethics: If people abroad wake up with a headache, they take a couple of aspirins or other painkillers and set off to work. Not here. People will themselves into a greater state of illness and stay away from work for several days. Foreigners become much more attractive as employees in this case. Similarly, if a foreign employee wanted to get breast implants, she would probably do it on her holiday so that she is nice and recuperated when she comes back to work, knowing full well that no sensible employer would consider breast implants to be an illness, and they would not regard any resulting complication as a work-related condition. People here do it on the weekend and then call in sick for the time it takes for it to heal. The employer gets stuck with a 15% sick pay bill, thanks to the law pushed through by the Social Democrats last year. As soon as she heals, she has to go on holiday to show off the new breasts, another extra 5 weeks off from work. Yeah! When I worked in Göteborg, we had 1 member of staff who was always on maternity leave; in three years we saw her twice. She went on maternity leave when she was 6 months' pregnant - 3 months after getting the job - and became pregnant again right after giving birth. And you know how long maternity leave is in Sweden.

I have seen the positive and that makes me happy. But I have also seen the negatives and these simply depress me. I have resolved not to employ anyone until the rules are more favourable to those of us who put our butts on the line taking the risks while employees rest safe in the knowledge that they will always get a paycheck at the end of the month. Believe me, the risks far outweigh the benefits. Contrary to popular beliefs, highly skilled labour is not cheap in Sweden. Neither is low-skilled labour. In fact, a simple thing like getting someone to cut your lawn causes your neighbours to think that you are very wealthy and/or cheating on your tax declarations.

As to the unions, they and the Social Democrats have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot by instituting inane laws designed solely to strangle private enterprise in this country. And then they bleat about businesses trying to orchestrate a change of government. As if anyone has to do that, when they are doing such a good job of that themselves. You see, what the ideologists forget is that the Swedish state needs the taxes from small businesses to survive. The larger companies don't keep much of their money here anyway. As for me, I am restructuring my businesses and moving them the hell out of here while I still have something left. I have worked too hard in this life to end up a pauper.