Desirable Skills? Non-Nordic citizens applying for work permits in Sweden, 1947–1950
(2015) In Labor History 56(4). p.481-498- Abstract
- Sweden’s rapid economic growth after World War II meant that the native labour supply was incapable of meeting the high demand, especially for industrial labourers. Three agreements on organised collective transfers were signed, but a large majority of the labour migrants came on their own initiative. Not all applicants were equally welcomed. In this article, logistic regressions are used to investigate a sample of 2,830 (every fifth) applications to the National Labour Market Board (AMS) from the years 1947–1950; 1,367 had an arrangement with a future Swedish employer, while 1,463 applicants lacked such an arrangement. The likelihood of being granted a permit was 11 times higher for the first category y. Our hypothesis that the chances... (More)
- Sweden’s rapid economic growth after World War II meant that the native labour supply was incapable of meeting the high demand, especially for industrial labourers. Three agreements on organised collective transfers were signed, but a large majority of the labour migrants came on their own initiative. Not all applicants were equally welcomed. In this article, logistic regressions are used to investigate a sample of 2,830 (every fifth) applications to the National Labour Market Board (AMS) from the years 1947–1950; 1,367 had an arrangement with a future Swedish employer, while 1,463 applicants lacked such an arrangement. The likelihood of being granted a permit was 11 times higher for the first category y. Our hypothesis that the chances were better for high-skilled workers proved true only in part; it was valid if they had an employer-agreement. Contrary to our assumptions, women had a better chance than men, partly because domesticservants were always permitted and partly because women did not compete with male labour. However, our assumptions with regard to better chances for the young but experienced, and for those applying for the occupation wherein they had their experience held true. A number of official documents revealed the desirability of Sudeten German labourers. They were viewed as skilled, reliable and loyal by employers, labour unions and governmental authorities. This assumption only held true for applicants lacking an employer. This can be viewed as a prolongation of the practice of helping Sudeten German Social Democrats, established in 1938. The intention to help refugees was however also evident in the treatment of Baltic and Polish applicants. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4930267
- author
- Lundh Nilsson, Fay LU ; Grönberg, Per-Olof and Sandström, Glenn LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- migrant workers, labour demand, technological change, diverging chances, gender differences, Sweden, post-war era
- in
- Labor History
- volume
- 56
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 481 - 498
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000367002300005
- scopus:84949781848
- ISSN
- 0023-656X
- DOI
- 10.1080/0023656X.2016.1086556
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 619ead92-8f1d-4710-8cbb-e9080637214a (old id 4930267)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 09:51:10
- date last changed
- 2022-01-25 17:18:44
@article{619ead92-8f1d-4710-8cbb-e9080637214a,
abstract = {{Sweden’s rapid economic growth after World War II meant that the native labour supply was incapable of meeting the high demand, especially for industrial labourers. Three agreements on organised collective transfers were signed, but a large majority of the labour migrants came on their own initiative. Not all applicants were equally welcomed. In this article, logistic regressions are used to investigate a sample of 2,830 (every fifth) applications to the National Labour Market Board (AMS) from the years 1947–1950; 1,367 had an arrangement with a future Swedish employer, while 1,463 applicants lacked such an arrangement. The likelihood of being granted a permit was 11 times higher for the first category y. Our hypothesis that the chances were better for high-skilled workers proved true only in part; it was valid if they had an employer-agreement. Contrary to our assumptions, women had a better chance than men, partly because domesticservants were always permitted and partly because women did not compete with male labour. However, our assumptions with regard to better chances for the young but experienced, and for those applying for the occupation wherein they had their experience held true. A number of official documents revealed the desirability of Sudeten German labourers. They were viewed as skilled, reliable and loyal by employers, labour unions and governmental authorities. This assumption only held true for applicants lacking an employer. This can be viewed as a prolongation of the practice of helping Sudeten German Social Democrats, established in 1938. The intention to help refugees was however also evident in the treatment of Baltic and Polish applicants.}},
author = {{Lundh Nilsson, Fay and Grönberg, Per-Olof and Sandström, Glenn}},
issn = {{0023-656X}},
keywords = {{migrant workers; labour demand; technological change; diverging chances; gender differences; Sweden; post-war era}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{481--498}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Labor History}},
title = {{Desirable Skills? Non-Nordic citizens applying for work permits in Sweden, 1947–1950}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2016.1086556}},
doi = {{10.1080/0023656X.2016.1086556}},
volume = {{56}},
year = {{2015}},
}