Abstract
The world of work in Sweden and other OECD countries has undergone major structural changes in recent decades. There has been a shift from a commodity-based industrial society to a knowledge-based economy (noted decades ago) driven by technological innovation, increased demands for efficiency and productivity, new ways of organising work and increased international competition. The labour market structure varies between different countries. In Europe there has been a polarisation over the past several years, with increasing numbers of top-paying and low-paying jobs, and slower growth in the middle due mainly to a loss of jobs in manufacturing and construction. There has been a shift in the labour market, in for example Sweden, that will become even more prominent in the coming decades when an increasing number of people will be working in the service sector (both private and public, predominantly the latter) and fewer in industry or agriculture and forestry. The most resilient jobs are in knowledge-intensive services in both the private and the public sector, such as health and education. Jobs are being upgraded and in Europe increasingly require longer periods of study. This development is prominent in Sweden, where workers report experiences of reorganisation or structural changes and the introduction of new technology in the workplace to a greater extent than in most other European countries (Eurofound 2015).
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Nilsson, S. (2017). Employability, Employment and the Establishment of Higher Education Graduates in the Labour Market. In: Tomlinson, M., Holmes, L. (eds) Graduate Employability in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57168-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57168-7_3
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