“Minister critical of AF’s kontorsnedläggning”
“the employment service is planning to close 132 offices around the country. Now is a list of the locations that are affected. But minister for employment Ylva Johansson (S) is critical. Partner the Centre party as well.”
“I believe that it is a hasty decision,” said Johansson to the TT.”
“It is mainly the small office in a small or medium-sized cities at risk of being shut in the public Employment service’s major cost-cutting program, which is a consequence of the M+KD, the budget that the parliament adopted in december. 4 500 employees to be away, announced the AF in January.”
“– Many small offices have quite a few job seekers, ” says Mikael Sjöberg, director-general of the employment service.”
“Ylva Johansson believes, however, that it needed more time to get an overall picture of what the AF office which is most important to retain.”
” I have given the director-general to the council not to take the decision before the government mandate we prepare is completed within a couple of weeks. It will affect how to assess and the rate at which offices are to remain. But the director-general has chosen to take the decision against my advice of the day, ” says Ylva Johansson.”
“– We make the savings of the public Employment service’s administrative appropriation, but not we have never claimed that it would be at the kontorsnäten. But with that said, there are certainly a lot of offices, especially in major cities, which are unnecessary. But the local office is the last frontier of authority is a different thing, ” says Martin Ådahl.”
“He looks the director-general’s decision as evidence that the agency did not want to reform his bureaucracy.”
“– You want to continue to centralise. And it is not in the small offices the cost is, claiming the West.”
“Pick, which now will be raised from the AF means that the agency closing more than half of the 242 office of the day is open to the public. The selection has largely been done with an eye on the availability.”
“– A principle is to be found in the hubs. It should be easy to travel to the office we keep. We’ve looked where there are travel centres or shopping streets where people are accustomed to move, ” says Sjöberg.”
“at the same time, the ambition is that the employment service should exist in some form in all the municipalities. The staff may be found on the site a couple of days a week in the municipality’s premises, or go out on a booked visit. So working AF even today, in some 60 municipalities.”
“– In northern sweden for example, which is so large, it is not reasonable that a job seeker go collectively in maybe two hours or more to get to us, ” says Mikael Sjöberg.”
“The first offices in the stängningsvågen will hit again around the new year, believe Sjöberg. But nothing is decided yet.”
” We have tabled our intention. Now there are negotiations with our employee unions. We will also have a dialogue with the municipalities and others who we work with.”
“In the long term, more and more of the Employment contact with job-seekers to be via the web.”
“– We meet more and more of our clients in their home, via video chat, for example, ” says Mikael Sjöberg.”
“Many job seekers would like to see that it becomes easier to keep in contact with employment services at a distance.”
“– When we develop new digital services, we need to almost do not advertise them, ” says Mikael Sjöberg.”
“the Criticism from several quarters.”
“Critical voices are heard, however, from several directions. ST-tray at the employment service, the view, as well as Ylva Johansson, that the authority’s management is now going too fast.”
“Sweden’s Municipalities and County councils are expressing concern that the AF’s reduced physical presence will lead to more unemployed people want practical help from the municipality.”
“some 13 400 people were employed at the employment service at the beginning of 2019. Of these worked about 10 400 at the local offices.”
“the Number of branches at year-end was 242.”
“the Agency’s total appropriations 2018 were 71.3 billion. The largest items in the budget was wage subsidies to employers (23.2 b), (a-kassa (12.8 billion) and support and development fee (10.7 billion).”
“(In brackets the number of offices to be retained in the respective county).”
“the county of Stockholm (15 left):”
“Uppsala county (2 left):”
“Södermanland (3 left):”
“the county of Östergötland (4 left):”
“Jönköping county (6 left):”
“Kronoberg (3 left):”
“the Gotland county (1 left):”
“Blekinge county (2 left):”
“Halland county (2 left):”
“Västra Götaland county (13 left):”
“Värmland county (5 left):”
“Västmanland county (3 left):”
“Dalarna county (6 left):”
“Gävleborg county (5 left):”
“Västernorrland counties (4 left):”
“the county of Jämtland (4 left):”
“the Västerbotten region (5 left):”
“Norrbotten county, sweden (11 left):”
“Source: employment agency”