Inclusive workplaces (Q4040119)

A socially sustainable labor market is characterized by high employment and low unemployment and by utilizing the inherent potential of the labor force. It is a labor market where employers' need for skills are satisfied and where each individual has the opportunity to contribute and develop. One way to contribute to a more socially sustainable labor market is through more efficient recruitment and through more including workplaces. At Boost by FC Rosengård, we work for increased social sustainability by creating the conditions needed for everyone to be able to enter the labor market. We work directly with individuals who are outside the labor market, mainly young adults and foreign-born who have been in Sweden for a short time. Every year, Boost provides support to hundreds of jobseekers so that they can enter the workforce. We collaborate across sectors with both the public and private organizations to contribute to this. Collaboration with private business is done primarily by matching participants from our business with employers who have a recruitment need. However, there are challenges with job seekers who are not ready and therefore are unable to perform in resumes, cover letters and interviews in a way that convinces employers. Unfortunately, all too often we see how participants who start employment only after a short time fall back into unemployment. The transition from unemployment to employment simply becomes too big and difficult. We hear this in our dialogue with employers who testify to the challenges of receiving and retaining people they employ from our business. It requires a longer training period and a more comprehensive supervision than what the employer often expected, or has the knowledge or capacity to offer. This may unfortunately lead employers to seek safer and more traditional routes of recruitment, which is also a loss when one loses the benefits that research shows that more diverse workplaces entail. In industries where the shortage of labor is the greatest and where employers have to seek out and reach new target groups in order to find new employees, this may even be an impossibility. However, we must also see how employers contribute to the problem. Traditional recruitment processes disadvantage individuals with fewer formal skills, and candidates’ chances are affected by their gender and name. Expectations of new employees from target groups who are new to the labor market are sometimes unreasonably high. Supervision support for new employees is lacking, which means that reception can be poor. It is often a matter of a lack of knowledge and capacity on the part of the employer to handle these issues in an efficient manner. As well as working with jobseekers, there are seemingly great benefits in working to provide support to employers in skills and capacity-building initiatives to contribute to more successful recruitments that last over time. In this project we want to investigate how we can contribute to a more socially sustainable labor market. We want to see how we motivate, support and develop capacity in businesses so that they are able to recruit with diversity in mind and provide support to employees who come from target groups with a weaker connection to the labor market. This can be done for example through developing better introduction programs. We also want to examine companies' views and knowledge of issues related to diversity and social sustainability. The project is to be done in collaboration with Swedish Chamber of Industry and Commerce, MKB Fastighets AB, Region Skåne and the Swedish Public Employment Service. Several other companies are planned to be involved during the project. The work will be conducted by gathering experience and knowledge from existing sources, from partners and from other relevant companies and organizations. The material collected in surveys, interviews and more will then be analyzed to see which issues and areas are most relevant to work with in order to create the best results. Finally, ideas for projects that can strengthen social sustainability in the labor market through mainly more effective matches and sustainable transitions will be developed. These ideas will form the basis for applications in the coming European Social Fund program. (Swedish)

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Swedish Kohesio ID

2020/00640

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Inclusive workplaces (Q4040119)

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