52,000 people are registered as unemployed in Skåne County – while in Denmark, employers are having difficulty finding workers.
Minister of Labor Johan Britz calls the situation "absurd" and is open to giving the Public Employment Service a clearer mandate.
"The Liberals think it is reasonable for unemployed Swedes to apply for Danish jobs. It is similar to the situation we have in parts of our country where we have made efforts to increase geographical mobility," Britz says.
Does not force
When the government a year ago instructed the Swedish Public Employment Service to encourage job seekers to take jobs in other locations, however, nothing was mentioned about mobility across national borders.
According to Mats Olsson, section manager at the Malmö Employment Service, they can help job seekers look for jobs in Denmark but they “do not force” anyone to do so. According to him, the focus has been on other parts of Sweden.
We have a focus in the appropriation bill that says we should work towards Norrland and other parts of Sweden where unemployment is lower. That's where the labor market is.
Different systems
However, Olsson sees different recruitment processes as the biggest obstacle.
Many Danish employers require certain documents when recruiting. These documents can be obtained the same day in Denmark, but it can take several weeks to obtain the Swedish equivalent, which makes it difficult for Swedish job seekers.
Facts: How the Danish Employment Service works towards Denmark
The Swedish Public Employment Service can direct job seekers to look for jobs in countries with social security systems similar to Sweden's, but cannot say whether they actively do so because they do not keep such statistics.
The employment service may require job seekers to apply for a job in these countries, but this "probably doesn't happen that often."
Today, the Malmö Employment Service does not work directly with "job centers" in Denmark, but there are collaborations with EURES and organizations such as Greater Copenhagen.
The Malmö Employment Agency regularly helps job seekers apply for jobs in Denmark, but the jobs advertised on the agency's job bank are few.
Danish employers can advertise jobs on the job bank that fall under the "abroad" category, but they are required to be written in English or Swedish.
In 2025, 186 Danish jobs were published on the Swedish Public Employment Service's job bank. In the same year, there were 66,705 advertisements for vacant jobs in Skåne.
The Public Employment Service's website also contains links to Danish job sites.
Source: Swedish Employment Agency
