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This article focuses on the restructurings that took place within the hospitality sector during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. The aim of this article is to examine how STW (short-time work) schemes and redundancies affected the psychosocial work environment. The data material consists primarily of 36 interviews with employees and managers from three hotels in Sweden that implemented STW schemes, where some employees were also made redundant. The results show that during the rather long period of government restrictions, radical shifts in hotel occupancy rates, and implemented STW schemes, the work environment changed in terms of employees' perceptions of job (in)security; workload and work extension; time and financial structures; and workplace relations. Further, the results illustrate how hotel employees' perceptions of the psychosocial work environment shifted over the course of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicidal ideation may be a warning sign for suicide and previous work has indicated a higher prevalence of suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Job loss and job insecurity are potential risk factors for suicidal ideation, but their importance during the pandemic, and the role of organizational changes for suicidal ideation, is unclear. This study examined the association between various experiences associated with job loss and job insecurity during the pandemic and thoughts of suicide/self-harm in Sweden., Methods: The study sample was drawn from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH). Auxiliary data collections in February 2021 and 2022 assessed exposure to job loss/unemployment, furlough, workplace downsizing, or increased job insecurity versus stable employment and thoughts of suicide or self-harm (PHQ-9) during the pandemic. The analyses were based on 1558 individuals (2 349 observations) participating in either or both waves and who had been working before the pandemic. Logistic regression models with cluster-robust standard errors were fitted, including sociodemographic factors and prior mental health problems to control for potential confounding. Measures of personality based on a brief version of the Big-Five personality inventory were also added., Results: The results indicated an association between all experiences, except furlough, and thoughts of suicide/self-harm, when adjusting for sex, age, civil status, socioeconomic status and prior mental health (job loss odds ratio (OR) = 3.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.79-7.63, downsizing OR = 2.41, CI 1.24-4.70, job insecurity OR = 2.77, CI 1.15-6.67). The associations for job loss and insecurity were attenuated by adjustment for personality, although it remained statistically significant for downsizing., Conclusions: The results suggested a higher risk of suicidal ideation connected with loss of employment and survival of a downsizing, but not a forced reduction in working times/pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association for subjective job insecurity was less robust and may be partly explained by personality., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

An intra-organizational change process involving all middle managers was studied in a public sector organization in Sweden over three time points, spanning two years in total. Using sensemaking and the person-environmental fit literature as well studies on promotion and demotion, hypotheses about the effects of managerial status loss and being offered a non-preferred role (non-preference) on change reactions (job satisfaction, turnover intentions, mental health) are made. Data from 140 middle managers was analyzed with path models, where two process factors (perceived organizational support during the change, procedural justice of the change) and two job characteristics (job demand, job control) were tested simultaneously as mediators. Results revealed that managerial status loss had negative effects on work attitudes but mental health was positively affected over time through decreased job demands. Non-preference had negative consequences for all outcome variables and these effects were mediated through lower procedural justice of the change, lower job control, and for some outcomes, lower perceived organizational support during the change. The results provide insight into how middle managers react to change, and suggest that process justice and job characteristics play an important part in shaping these reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the earnings, employment and income effects of job displacement among female assistant and auxiliary nurses -- two hard-hit female-dominated occupations -- in Sweden during the economic crisis of the 1990s. Design/methodology/approach -- Using register data, assistant and auxiliary nurses who were displaced due to mass-layoffs during the crisis years were identified, as well as an appropriate control group. The study population could be followed for a maximum of 13 years. Mean effects were estimated using a propensity score weighted fixed effect estimator. In a supplementary analysis, propensity score weighted quantile effects were estimated. Findings -- Job loss among women in the public sector seems to have had similar earnings and employment consequences as previously found for job loss among men in the private sector. However, the social insurance system replaced a majority of the lost earnings. Moreover, a distributional analysis revealed that the income and earnings losses were limited to the lower part of the distributions. Social implications -- Budget consolidation measures to restore health to public finances in the aftermath of the Great Recession are likely to have long-lasting adverse consequences for some. Although many of those losing their jobs are likely to quickly regain employment at a comparable earnings level, the unlucky few may bear most of the costs. Originality/value -- The author is aware of no previously published research that has investigated either the impact of job displacement in the public sector or the distributional effect of job displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the implementation of a hospital cost savings program in a Swedish county hospital to understand how and why a downsizing intervention works and what outcomes it produces. Data were gathered from interviews and documents. Substantial differences were found among the healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the downsizing process. These diverse perceptions likely limited the scope of staffs’ participation and innovations of new savings strategies. Our findings stress the need for impact analyses addressing both intended aims and unintended side effects. Full attention should be paid to communication processes required to establish a trustful and committed change climate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the past, employment in northern Sweden has been largely dependent on natural resources. Shifting demands and price fluctuations for raw materials have caused boom periods as well as times of crisis in local communities. During the first decade of the 21st century, increasing global demand for minerals resulted in substantial investments in the Swedish mining industry. The purpose of this article is to assess the importance of mining for employment in the county of Västerbotten, northern Sweden, by focusing on the time period after 1990. Mining employment constitutes a rather small part of all employment in the study area, due to a restructuring process that started in the 1960s. However, results show that mining employment has increased slightly, especially after 2002. Global demand for minerals and related technology and services make it reasonable to believe that this change will have a deeper significance for employment opportunities in the study area. Restructuring in mining generates new business opportunities in subcontracting, consultancy and equipment production, but also creates new challenges. Consequently, it is important to make strategic decisions on regional and local levels concerning how to make use of the development in the mining industry to stimulate long-term regional employment growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governance of the welfare state is going through profound transformations in many western countries. Similarly, reforms, influenced by neoliberal ideology, are being applied particularly in the field of education all over Europe. However, it is likely that there are divergent outcomes as these widely shared models are adapted in historical and local particularities. The aim of this article is to examine how Finnish, Irish and Swedish teachers perceive change in professional control and autonomy, and the influence of documentation and evaluation on daily work. Correspondence analysis on survey data (N = 2304) shows that whereas the Finnish teachers regard that the new regulatory measures do not influence their daily work much, the Irish teachers, and also the Swedish teachers, tend to feel the increasing influence of control and accountability. Obviously, despite the similarities in formal policy and education acts, there are different kinds of restructuring operating in Finland, Ireland and Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Creativity is part of a current global policy paradigm in education. The present article examines aspects of one national version of this policy in practice, by looking at the ways student preferences for different types of classroom teaching in different subjects with different 'spaces for creativity and self-realisation' are socially constructed and subjectively understood and valued. The analysis is developed from comparisons between teaching and learning practices and experiences in two different subjects; Swedish and General Science for students/pupils in the first year of the Swedish three-year upper-secondary school natural sciences programme. It describes difficulties with respect to the everyday realisation of creativity policy that are brought about by the presence of strong currents of performativity culture and considers what implications this might have for educational policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]