It is not only the regions that have large costs for hired personnel. In 2022, Sweden’s municipalities paid SEK 3.2 billion for rental staff. This is shown in a new report produced by the trade union Vision.
The report shows that the municipalities’ expenditure on rental staff has continued to increase, especially in social services and care for the elderly. At the same time, few municipalities do any kind of follow-up.
– Everything indicates that the costs will increase – if you don’t take a conscious approach, says Veronica Magnusson, union chairman Vision.
The municipal council: “A limited view”
When SVT goes through the statistics, we can see that several municipalities have significantly greater increases than the national average of 300 percent over the past ten years. In over 90 municipalities, costs have more than doubled.
In Haninge, costs have increased by 60 million since 2012. But municipal councilor Sven Gustafsson (M) is not worried.
– On the whole, this is a very small part of our budget and then this with rental staff is not the most important issue, he says.
– The figures are happy to be enlarged by interest organizations that want to ban staffing staff. I think it’s a narrow view and they don’t understand what they’re doing.
One in five municipalities count on the additional cost
At the same time, the report shows that only one in five municipalities calculates how much the hired staff costs the municipality. Four out of ten do not even know if a calculation has been made.
– It is remarkable that you do not have control over the costs, and we think it is problematic, says Veronica Magnusson.
The dominant reason for hiring staff is that there is a shortage in specific professional categories. Some municipalities believe that the rental staff means that operations can continue. Others worry about long-term consequences such as continuity.
What do these results mean in practice?
– In the worst case, it can mean that people do not feel safe in situations when they are most vulnerable, says Veronica Magnusson.
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