Arbetsförmedlingen Reviews 

The most useless, stressful organization creating extra headache unnecessarily. Just to update them about something they make us wait 2,3 hours on phone call wasting our time that we could use to apply for jobs instead.
Best suggestion is to find a job on your own.

If you feel down, they will dig you deeper so you feel better about who you were 10 seconds ago. Their job is to become a bridge between unemployed people and employers, right... At least, this is what I think so, unlike them...

For the sake of context, as a native English speaker I have never been so frustrated speaking my language since they do not pick-up calls just in case you dialed '0' (record is 1 hrs 42 mins while being the first in the line). Is this some sort of joke or what! They are pretty prompt on email (which is not available on the website you either gotta report or submit a feedback to get it).

I am registered at globen Stockholm and just check out the google reviews by people. I saw the reviews on my way to their 'kontor' and I turned back to the home... As an unemployed person I feel already like a sh*t and they do not make it better. So far the worst institution I ever encountered in Sweden.

Besides all the negative, cheers those who do their job properly.

3 days of trying to get contact with an acute case untill I gave up. Worst than ever..

Today I have spent three hours in a telephone queue without getting through, which is a typical example of how badly it functions—I am still waiting.
Same thing every time I call them.

Arbetsförmedlingen exhibits a range of serious deficiencies that together constitute systemic inefficiency and a clear failure to fulfil its mission.

1. Extreme waiting times
o Telephone queues lasting several hours are recurrent, not occasional exceptions.
o The waiting times are disproportionately long compared with both private actors and other government agencies.
o This signals poor planning of staffing resources.

2. Inaccessibility and poor service
o It is almost impossible to reach the right person or get a correct answer.
o When you do get through, you sometimes receive disengaged, formulaic responses.

3. Inability to adapt to the individual
o The agency often works according to rigid templates without considering the individual’s actual needs, sector, or skill level.
o Standardised programmes become a bureaucratic straitjacket rather than genuine support.

4. Waste of resources
o The organisation costs billions of kronor annually but delivers modest results relative to the expenditure.
o Efficiency audits have repeatedly shown that funds are not used optimally.

5. Lack of results focus
o Measurements often focus on processes (number of meetings, number of calls) rather than actual outcomes (new jobs, skills development).
o This creates misaligned incentives—quantity over quality.

6. Low transparency
o It is difficult for us as citizens to understand which decisions are made and why.
o Notifications about measures or decisions come late or not at all.

7. Unclear requirements and rules
o The rules for activity reporting, sanctions, and support are often unclear and contradictory.
o The lack of clarity leads to frustration and incorrect decisions.

8. Weak leadership and lack of accountability
o Incompetence or passivity at senior levels creates a culture where problems are not addressed.
o Accountability is weak—poor service has no internal consequences.

9. Lack of flexibility and innovation
o The agency has failed to modernise its working methods despite digitalisation and new labour market models.
o Processes remain cumbersome and outdated.

10. Negative consequences for individuals
• Long waiting times and lack of clarity lead to stress, uncertainty, and in the worst cases, lost job opportunities.
• Many feel humiliated and powerless.

11. Survival due to monopoly
• The only reason Arbetsförmedlingen has not gone bankrupt is that it holds a statutory monopoly.
• In a competitive market, customers would have abandoned it rapidly.

12. Crisis of confidence
• The low public trust is well documented in opinion polls and reports.
• Many perceive the agency as inefficient, impersonal, and obstructive rather than supportive.

13. Ill-conceived reforms
• Numerous internal reorganisations have taken place without clear improvement, creating confusion for both staff and users.

14. Poor communication
• The information provided is often vague, contradictory, or difficult to understand.
• Different contact channels provide different answers about the same matter.

Examples
• Today I have spent three hours in a telephone queue without getting through, which is an extreme example of how badly it functions—I am still waiting.
• Once inside the system, you are forced to report activities that have no real connection to the labour market.
• It can take several weeks to receive a decision on a simple application.

Summary
If Arbetsförmedlingen were a private company:
• The customer exodus would have been massive.
• Bankruptcy would have been a fact long ago.
• The organisation would likely have been restructured or shut down.

As a taxpayer-funded operation, Arbetsförmedlingen survives thanks to legislation and budget frameworks rather than competence and quality.

How will I be number one on the phone cue for more than 2 hours does it really make sense? And when I send in an email , I get no response. Y’all can do better for real 🙄

Very poor customer service, they forced the job seekers to get in a stupid program rusta matcha those companies are doing nothing and if you don t agree they cut your money I feel constantly threatened by this agency and they absolutely ignore our complaints

The worst services ever! It’s only one person answering the phone for like the whole region. That my friends is where the world is going to. Everything is about AI so how are you supposed to have the right help if the robot you are talking to isn't at your right disposal and just sends you to the wrong caller or after ben waiting like 1h for someone to answer and the line hangs up, well thank you so much democracy/dictation.
And the worth part of this is that this state is working with all of this so called stadig g companies and they are just picking as they choose and are probably one of the reasons that people are not getting work based on age and not quality, what's the point??
This is so bad and really sad that nobody is reacting to this craziness.

The customer service is incredibly slow. Every time I try to call or chat, I'm told the queue is long, and then the call ends. This is extremely frustrating. What kind of service is this? Sweden, I'm disappointed.
👎👎👎

It is simply impossible to get through via chat or phone unless you have 1/2 day. Quite often you are kicked of the phone after 1 hour. Email doesn't exist in their universe.

If I could I'd resign myself from arbetsformedlingen, but I need to call or chat in order to do so, how idiotic is that ? How hard would it be to let people resign via the web with bankid?

No matter when you call or chat they always say, many people are calling right now. They have an "English" menu, however only partly in English, rest in Swe-Lish.

Just uselless Swedish institution. Was on call to try to reach them for like 1 hour, was first in line, nobody answering. This is just pathetic. Waist of tax payers money

very rude and talking down personnel. Had me wait for 3 months for nothing

I would give them NO stars if I could!! This is absolutely the WORST agency I have ever had to deal with. They will pretty much make your life a living hell. I was told I would have an assessment call at 2 pm on a date, and after waiting and planning for the call, NO one reached me. Then they claimed they tried to, which was a big fat lie. (My number was correct and I was waiting by my phone). They also have the worst communication! It's like they're waiting for you to slip up by making their regulations as esoteric as possible. Their phone operators and officers are rude and unhelpful. I have NEVER had problems with any other agency as much as Arbetsförmedlingen. They are absolutely terrible!! I have nothing good to say about them!!

Its indeed horrible,sweden legaslation are fully bias,arbetsförmedlingen have few workers making you to wait for 3hours on call,i am realy praying that i leave this country oneday,

They had schedule a follow-up call with me and, just like the first call, I had assumed that they would call ME. Instead, they never called, and later I received a letter saying that they tried contacting me and I didn't answer and, consequently, they informed a-kassa that I was not cooperating. They also wrote that I had around a week to call them myself.

However, I don't understand how it is possible for me to call at 9h, being "number two in the queue" according to the robot voice, and still wait for over 1h30.... It is inconceivable that someone is on the phone for 1h30, or that there's only one employee working costumer service!

They continue to reach new lows every time, and have stayed consistent in being useless over the years. 2hrs did I wait in the phone queue from position 3 even! Not position 20 for example, and still no answer, till the point I had to hang up. Credit and time they are not paying you back for, since they are not the ones who even distribute benefits in the first place, and since they have never once found me and many others work, what is the point of them!

They don’t even deserve one star. I know they are in a business to keep people unemployed.

Criminal and corrupt
organization, through low iq that gotten their jobs through nepotism and ignoring native swedes with different diseases & conditions

They do anything they can to not to help. I found a great program that I could join called "Rusta och matcha".I found the company, that offered this program in collaboration with Arbetsförmedlingen,that I would like to work with, had a meeting with them, prepared my path into how I could get a job as a person who has a master's degree in Sweden with the help of them. Applied through Arbetsförmedlingen and they DID NOT respond for months!! I called them every day and ask them to please look at my case and each time the answer is the same, the person on the phone cannot do anything else but to just send a signal to the person who can. I could in no way get hold of those person who gives the decision. They waited and waited for months until I was about to fill 25 and told me that I needed to stop taking any kind of education for at 3 months back if I wanted to be in this programme and therefore they rejected me. I could have stopped taking courses just to be in this program months ago if they only answered me, but they preferred to wait so I get over the age of 25 and can no longer participate in the program. They have all the records of the telephone conversations I had with them and proof of how miserable of a situation they have put me in. A young educated person just needed a hand to get into the industry.

Not Much to say other than everyone who works ät Arbetsförmedlingen must leave there Jobs and let People who care work in there place