Government chaos hits vocational education and training

The expansion of universities of applied sciences is under threat. At least SEK 250 million will be frozen if Parliament approves the proposed state budget for 2019. The money would have gone to highly sought-after vocational education. 11,000 vocational college places risk disappearing, writes IT&Telecom companies' business policy expert Fredrik von Essen and other representatives from the business community's industries in a debate in today's SvD.

There is a severe shortage of skilled labor. Every day there are reports of industries with acute shortages of employees. Higher vocational education has a given and important role in meeting this. But in the transitional government's budget proposal, there is no money for the previously announced expansion of training places. This means that companies cannot grow and create more jobs - something that hurts Sweden's prosperity.

This is not the fault of the transition government. They must act on the basis of the conditions allowed by the Constitution and are therefore presenting a stripped-down, non-partisan budget - almost an extension of the budget adopted by Parliament for 2018.

Regardless of this, if the proposal becomes reality, it risks having serious consequences. With such a tight budget, the Swedish Higher Vocational Education Authority will barely be able to grant any courses in January. Only 5-10% of applications can be granted, which means that some ongoing programs cannot continue and new ones cannot be started. In the long run, this will affect the supply of skills to the business sector and matching in the labor market.

But most of all, it affects all those who would have had the opportunity to further train in their profession or retrain for a new one. They are now denied the chance to take the next step in their career or change direction in their professional life. The increasingly crucial role of lifelong learning is made more difficult.

Higher education is very successful. The statistics speak for themselves: 93% of 2016 graduates had jobs the following year. But the transition to work is actually faster than that. Almost 80% have a job within a month. This means that four out of five graduates have a job by the time they finish their studies.

An important success factor is that employers who are looking for employees themselves participate in the planning of training and are active in its implementation. From the outset, there is therefore a clear link to the needs of the business community and declarations of intent regarding participation in the implementation of training and recruitment needs

Sweden's economy remains strong. The business sector and welfare services are facing enormous recruitment needs. Add to that the demands of the transition of the labor market to meet technological developments. Sweden simply cannot afford to cut 11,000 university of applied sciences places.

Our call to the parties in the Riksdag is to seek agreement across the block boundaries to secure funding for higher vocational education. This can be done in the committee reading of the budget bill or in the parties' budget motions.

And it is urgent. Even if the next government decides on an amending budget, there is a great risk that the message will come too late. A call for applications is likely to be frozen if the Riksdag does not put party politics aside to safeguard the future of higher vocational education. There is a consensus on the need and importance of the expansion of higher vocational education across party lines. If nothing happens in the Riksdag, the previously decided expansion will be delayed while the number of programs and places will decrease.

Frida Andersson, Teknikföretagen
Joel Andersson, Swedish Food Federation
Fredrik von Essen, IT&Telecom Companies
Greta Hjortzberg, Innovation and Chemical Employers (IKEM)
Jesper Hedin, Industrial Employers
Elin Kebert, Swedish Construction Federation
Amanda Rafter Ekenman, Installatörsföretagen
Anders Persson, Swedish Engineering & Design Industries
Henrik Smedmark, Swedish Wood and Furniture Industries
Fredric Skälstad, Almega Utbildningsföretagen
Peter Thomelius, Visita
Kristine Wiklund, Green Employers