Anders Borg: The reform of the Employment Service is poorly thought out

The reform of the Employment Service was established in the January agreement. Private actors must take over the matching of job seekers and the government is also investigating whether municipalities will take over the role of the Employment Service in places where private actors do not establish themselves.

The role of the employment services is to educate people and ensure that they come to places where there are jobs. This responsibility cannot be taken by municipal politicians. It is not in their interest to educate people so that they then move from the municipality, says Anders Borg.

Anders Borg also warns that municipalizing the Employment Service's mission can have consequences.

-It can have disastrous effects now that we have a situation where very many people have come to Sweden and because of the housing market have ended up in areas where the labor market is too weak.

The former finance minister is also critical to the privatization of services that the Employment Service currently stands for.

- I don't think we can have private players who in Eskilstuna or Flen can really fulfill that role. It works for Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö but not for the regions that have a tougher economy. There must be national responsibility.

Anders Borg, however, believes that there is a great deal in the criticism against the Employment Service.

- The Employment Service has not worked well and there are justified criticisms of it. There is certainly reason to do a broad review. But to rush a reform when, since the 1920s, we have had the model that the Employment Service is national - precisely because there is a conflict of interest between mobility and the municipalities.

- Then I don't think you should make that kind of rapid reform. I think it's badly thought out.