Its a funny new year, a new year is usually blessed with promise and expectation but many of us are donning our tin hats and tightening our belts as every political and financial analyist is telling us this is going to be a bastard of a year.
The head of the Riksbank, Mr Ingves has also joined in, saying he expects it to be tough with high job losses.
Unionen one of the biggest Trade Unions in the land is saying that now almost one in three companies are moving their jobs out of Sweden. This is very bad news. Sweden has had it good during the last few years, its growth has been commendable and it has surplus, that is now under pressure and the first to react to this will always be the private sector.
Unionen explain in the article Swedish jobs moving abroad that:
‘“Companies should take their responsibility by working with preventive measures such as investing in operations and developing the skills of their staff. It is important to analyze the effects of a move and the available alternatives,” she said.
According to the survey, the main reason behind the export of jobs is to cut labour costs by moving to lower cost countries’
I work for a multinational company and fortunately we have never had to pull out of a country but who knows what may happen in the future in some of our markets. I think the Union are looking at this with rose tinted glasses. I cant imagine any decent company rushing to move out operations, if that was the case then the Western Europe private sector would be desolate. Companies pay for expertise and local knowledge and whilst that comes at a price it usually pays off.
I think Unionen and the other Trade Unions should be working with the government to look at ways to encourage more businesses to open in Sweden and also help those that are here with tax breaks and cutting up so much of the red tape thats dogs businesses. I have been amazed by some of aspects of Swedish labour law and stunned by how much power the Trade Unions have in Sweden. Did you know for instance that a Swedish Trade Union has the right to attend company board meetings? Thats just the tip of the iceberg.
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