Background information

The 1st of November 2023 a new wage floor was introduced for labour migrants, where they must earn at least 80% of the median wage in Sweden to obtain a work visa.

The background is multifaceted. The current government campaigned on a platform to generally reduce migration to Sweden, and this policy is part of such efforts. The increase of the wage floor is also argued to counter the exploitation of migrant labour in some sectors.

Content of measure

The measure introduces a new wage floor for migrant labour workers to 80% of the median wage. As of April 2025, that is equal to SEK 28,480 (€ 2,590) per month. Previously, such a wage floor did not exist, beyond the need for labour migrants to be "self sufficient", which meant approximately SEK 13,000 (€ 1,182) per month.

The Swedish Migration Agency updates required wage annually, based on data from Statistics Sweden.

The following categories of workers are excluded from this criteria: - EU/EEA citizens and family members of EU/EEA citizens - those applying for an EU Blue Card - those applying for an ICT permit - seasonal workers - athletes and coaches - au pairs - interns through international exchange programmes - trainees in higher education - researchers.

Use of measure

This policy affects many workers and companies employing labour migrants. In 2024 there were a total of 13,427 labour migrants who were approved a labour visa to Sweden. In terms of education, the largest group of labour migrants have tertiary education, around 5000 workers. The largest occupational group are IT architects and software developers, which are around 2600 workers. These high skilled workers should not be affected by the new wage floor.

However, the second largest group are berry pickers and planters, which were 1361 workers in 2024. The berry picking industry has for a long time been recognised as a sector with low wages and poor working conditions, but despite the new wage floor it remained the second largest occupational group of labour migrants.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners were involved in the design phase where they provided written comments to the government inquiry into the policy. They are not involved in the implementation of the policy.

However, the policy states that a labour migrant should earn 80% of the national median salary, but also reach the salary levels stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement or industry praxis.

Views and reactions

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise has been very critical of the policy, arguing that the companies that employ low wage labour migrant workers need access to these groups in order to run their companies. In April 2024, they published a report estimating the cost for businesses to be around SEK 5,8 billion (€ 528 million) and the loss of tax revenue to be upwards of SEK 1,9 billion (€ 173 million).

The peak-level white collar trade unions TCO and SACO were also critical. They argue that they did not think that the policy would be an effective way to combat labour migrant exploitation, and that the negotiated collective agreements should be the wage setting regime in Sweden.

The peak-level blue collar union LO were still critical, but they were the least critical of the social partners. Their argument that unregulated labour migration puts to much downward pressure on wages, and that the wage floor alliviates that pressure. They did however not think that it would be an effective way to combat exploitation of labour migrants.

Sources

• 02 November 2023: LO säger ja till lönekravet: ”Oreglerad arbetskraftsinvandring är att öppna helvetets portar” (arbetet.se)
• 03 April 2024: Samhällsekonomiska konsekvenser av ett höjt lönegolv för arbetskraftsinvandrare (www.svensktnaringsliv.se)
• 28 April 2025: God försörjning – försörjningskrav för arbetstillstånd (www.migrationsverket.se)