9058009788

Hartmann, Sweden

with the stipulations of the Swedish labour market regulations, employers were obliged to give priority to the continued employment of aiready hired Staff. Seniority rułes, the principle of ‘last in - first out' and the so-called natural decline of staff by retirement placed the burden of unemployment on the shoulders of the young, not yet established on the labour market. In addition. a rise in beginners wage-levels madę young people without working eiperience less attractive on a labour market with a surplus of ex-perienced older workers. (SCB 1987:2. 33)

Higher demands regarding the vocational training and qualification of youth, often mentioned as a limiting factor (ERS, 1986), have only marginal influence on the employment of young people. Compared to the aiready employed labour force, most young people have a higher level of formal education and vocational training. but still cannot meet the ąualification levels required by employers.

The Swedish system of separated vocational training in full-time courses might add to the development of different sets of eipectations among youth and their teachers or supervisors in schools, and the representatives of industry and commerce. Especially in times of fast technological change, vocational training in schools cannot keep up with industrial deyelopment, especially with the use of new technologies, e.g. working with the most re-cent Computer generation. Prolonged vocational training m)might. on the contrary. lead to further adjustment and adherence of young people to the demand of the educalional setting and result in a growing distance to the reality of the open labour market. (Hartmann. 1985) Improved relations between employers and local yocational training courses and a greater engagement of companies in the specialized training of young people are seen as a solution to bridge the gap between skills taught in school courses and skills demanded by the employers. (Andersson U Hartmann. 1986)

4.3. Public Proerammes to Fight Youth Unemployment in Sweden

The steep rise of youth unemployment in the middle of the 1970s was in-terpreted as a temporary decline in economic growth by most politicians. Therefore, it was assumed that unemployment could be oyercome by intro-ducing short-term training courses and relief-work for the age-groups 16-18 who were mainly affected by unemployment and did not yoluntarily prolong their education.

The prolongation of schooling, based on the assumptions of the human Capital theories deyeloped during the 1960s, has absorbed a large percentage of young people and steadily decreased youth labour market participation