Inadequate support for jobseekers with disabilities

The Riksdag’s disability policy objectives include ensuring that everyone should be able to find and keep a job. Yet, the unemployment rate among people with disabilities that impair their capacity to work is more than twice that of the rest of the population.

The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that the Swedish Public Employment Service’s support for people with disabilities is ineffective. Processing times are long and, for one in ten people, waiting times to have their disability recognised – a condition for obtaining certain kinds of support – exceed three years. There are also considerable differences between groups – waiting times are longest for people with reduced mobility, people over the age of 25 and those born abroad.

Furthermore, recognition of a disability does not guarantee that appropriate measures are taken. Half of those who have had their disability recognised lack long-term interventions or activities. Moreover, use of special interventions earmarked for this target group is limited. Only three in ten people receive access to interventions within two years of registration, and budgeted funds often remain unspent.

“These problems have increased over time and many people are left without labour market policy interventions, worsening their chances of finding work. The lack of effectiveness is striking,” says Auditor General Christina Gellerbrant Hagberg.

The Swedish National Audit Office assesses that these shortcomings are partly due to the reorganisation of the Swedish Public Employment Service and an overhaul of its job mediation operations, which has impeded the agency’s work for people with disabilities.

The situation has been exacerbated by the Swedish Public Employment Service’s case-based approach, with remote self-service and digital meetings. This has led to fragmented processing, deficient coordination and transfer of information, duplicated work and administrative obstacles.

“Digital meetings are not always sufficient to meet the target group’s various needs. Furthermore, the expectation that individuals should pursue their own cases may be an unduly high threshold for many people,” says Kristina Lovén Seldén, project leader for the audit.

The Swedish National Audit Office also considers that the Swedish Public Employment Service has not prioritised its employer relations sufficiently. Despite the fact that early intensive matching and employment support are effective measures for jobseekers who are greatly distanced from the labour market, the number of jobs with wage subsidies has declined.

The Swedish National Audit Office also notes that the Government needs to take a more long-term and result-oriented approach in its management of the Swedish Public Employment Service so that more people with disabilities can find and keep a job.