¡°I am so happy. I think I ½ÅÃÌ¿ë´ÞÀÌ»ç would have got a job eventually without the council, but thanks to them it has been a great experience,¡± says Eva, who declined to give her surname, citing concerns that her new employer might misunderstand her motives for speaking to the media. ¡°I felt more secure about the whole situation. I knew I wasn¡¯t alone, I could always talk to my advisor.¡±
Like Eva, most Swedes who go through the transition ¸ñµ¿¿ë´ÞÀÌ»ç system are employed again within six months. And, according to the OECD data, Swedish workers aged younger than 30 actually see their earnings increase after being laid off.
¡°Most people who come to us and ³²ÀÚ¸íÇ°·¹Çø®Ä«=³²ÀÚ¸íÇ°·¹Çø®Ä« get a new job think that ¿ù°îµ¿¿ë´ÞÀÌ»ç dismissal was ´ä·Ê¶±=´ä·ÊÇ° ´ä·Ê¶± Çà»ç¶± ±îÄ¡¶± the beginning of something very good,¡± says Erica Sundberg, the Stockholm regional chief of TRR, one of the biggest job security councils that covers white collar workers.
A helping hand
In Sweden employers pay 0.3% of their total payroll into ³²ÀÚ·¹Çø®Ä«Ãßõ=³²ÀÚ·¹Çø®Ä«Ãßõ the job security councils, like an insurance policy against layoffs. During the good times, the money builds up; then, when there is a °úõÆ÷ÀåÀÌ»ç need to restructure or downsize, the councils are there to soften the blow. Workers have access to their services wherever trade unions have an agreement with employers ? which in Sweden includes the overwhelming majority of workplaces, large and small, since 90% of employees work in unionised workplaces.