40 high-demand roles and skills in the Swedish job ads
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Everyone is talking about a shortage of software developers. It is a real challenge for many recruiters and hiring managers all around the world, but our data sources show us that other jobs are even more needed in Sweden right now.
Jobs that require social skills and experience in healthcare and customer service are some of the most in demand in the Swedish labour market.
We identified this information by analysing the Swedish Public Employment Service's job database (Arbetsförmedlingen) using machine learning models. To find which jobs and skills are in demand, we used the available job advertisements from the first three months of 2022 to compile the selected data.
The results show that the need for nurses (Sjuksköterska, grundutbildad) continues to rise throughout Sweden, being encountered in most job advertisements from the Swedish Public Employment Service’s database. Personal Assistant takes second place on the list, proving that the healthcare industry needs more and more qualified professionals.
The need for staff working in healthcare is mainly associated with an overall shortage of personnel in all of Sweden according to Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån). It is expected that this shortage will happen among all healthcare staff, specifically among specialist nurses and care staff until 2035.
Sales roles: always in high demand
It wasn’t just job advertisements in healthcare that dominated the labour market at the beginning of this year. Roles requiring social skills and sales experience have taken the top as well.
The latest data shows a variety of different job postings for the first quarter of the year: from healthcare to sales, administration and IT, here are the most wanted job titles for the first quarter of 2022. The number next to each job title indicates how many job advertisements exist for a certain role.
Roles with the highest demands in job ads in the Swedish Public Employment Service’s database (Arbetsförmedlingen).
- Nurse (Sjuksköterska, grundutbildad): 21728 appearances
- Personal Assistant (Personlig assistent): 11268 appearances
- Customer Service Staff (Kundtjänstmedarbetare): 8457 appearances
- Outside Sales Representative (Utesäljare): 7902 appearances
- Inside Sales Representative (Innesäljare): 7573 appearances
- Shop Sales Assistant, specialised stores (Butikssäljare, fackhandel): 6460 appearances
- Healthcare Assistants, home care and nursing home (Undersköterska, hemtjänst och äldreboende): 5378 appearances
- Door-to-door sales (Hemförsäljare): 5269 appearances
- Warehouse worker (Lagerarbetare): 5126 appearances
- System Developer/Programmer (Systemutvecklare/Programmerare): 5003 appearances
- Nanny/Babysitter (Barnflicka/Barnvakt): 4665 appearances
- Retailers/Employees Grocery Stores (Butikssäljare/Medarbetare, dagligvaror): 4253 appearances
- Middle School Teacher, years 7-9 (Lärare i grundskolan, årskurs 7-9): 3783 appearances
- Cleaner (Städare/Lokalvårdare): 3640 appearances
- Kitchen Helper (Restaurangbiträde): 3458 appearances
- Administrative Assistant (Administrativ assistent): 3452 appearances
- Specialist Medical Practitioners (Specialistläkare): 3367 appearances
- Telemarketer (Telefonförsäljar): 2997 appearances
- Primary School Teacher, years 4-6 (Lärare i grundskolan, årskurs 4-6): 2789 appearances
- Account Manager (Account manager): 2749 appearances
Foreign languages - some of the most in-demand skills
Pratar du svenska? As well as English? Vielleicht Deutsch?
Foreign languages are currently one of the most in-demand skills among professionals in Sweden. With many available roles that require social interaction such as sales, healthcare, and customer service, there is an increased need for people who can speak multiple languages.
We used the same methodology to analyse and select the most commonly encountered skills to determine which knowledge and competencies employees need in professionals today.
Surprisingly, programming barely made it on the list. Most of the wanted skills focus on social interaction, customer service, and vehicle operations.
With remote or hybrid work being the standard for some, professionals may find themselves engaging with customers and coworkers from all over the world while sitting in front of their computers. As a result, people who can speak multiple languages and have sales experience can reach out to new customers without ever having to leave their homes.
Skills with the highest increase in job ads in the Swedish Public Employment Service’s database (Arbetsförmedlingen).
- Swedish (svenska): 38398 appearances
- English (engelska): 15685 appearances
- Sales (försäljningsvan): 1128 appearances
- Certificate of professional competence (yrkeskompetensbevis ykb): 776 appearances
- Telephone sales (telefonförsäljning): 690 appearances
- Retail (butiksvana): 675 appearances
- Norwegian (norska): 653 appearances
- German (tyska): 594 appearances
- Direct selling, b2b (uppsökande försäljning företag): 574 appearances
- Grocery experience (dagligvaror): 557 appearances
- Arabic (arabiska): 553 appearances
- Customer service (kundtjänst): 453 appearances
- Heavy lorries (tung lastbil): 446 appearances
- Finnish (finska):427 appearances
- Direct selling, b2c (direktförsäljning konsument): 400 appearances
- Danish (danska): 367 appearances
- Spanish (spanska): 341 appearances
- Digital marketing (digital marknadsföring): 340 appearances
- Online marketing (onlinemarknadsföring): 340 appearances
- Programming language (programmeringsspråk): 309 appearances
Final thoughts
Throughout the first half of 2022, the labour market has been quite demanding, and recruiters can expect to be just as busy identifying relevant talent in an ever-growing market for various industries for the rest of the year.
Methodology
We used our machine learning models to read, identify and select the most encountered job titles and skills based on Swedish Public Employment Service’s database (Arbetsförmedlingen). All data is collected from the first quarter of 2022 (January 2022 - March 2022).
