KTH giving non-EU migrants foothold in Sweden's IT job market

The university’s School of Computer Science and Communication received funding from the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation to begin intensive IT job training for 30 immigrants. The program is expected to begin in the fall 2016 term, and involve between 3 to 5 months of study, after which the students will be connected with an employer and begin working upon graduation.

Mattias Wiggberg, who is leading the initiative for CSC, says he hopes that the training can help to meet the needs of the IT industry, as well as support new arrivals with getting on track in Sweden's labor market.

"For people who meet the right conditions, it is possible to carry out an intensive training course with about 500 hours of programming in a relatively short period of time. This should be enough to meet the skills requirements of some of the services for which Swedish companies have a shortage of resources today and expect to in the coming years," he says.

The commissioned education project is run in collaboration with a recruitment company. KTH accounts for curricula, education structure and teachers. Employers in the IT sector should be involved in order to adapt education to labor market needs. The idea is that those who complete the courses can be connected with a company to start working immediately after graduation.

"The program is directed at those who, after receiving a residence permit, have had difficulty getting a foothold in the Swedish labor market, despite a good training foundation. We want to help to bridge the gap for the integration of many people that exists today," Wiggberg says.

Applicants to the program should have some form of academic education, preferably in the area of technology, or the equivalent of work experience. Approximately 30 people will be selected, after undergoing an entrance examination and interviews.

"Hopefully we can start training this fall," Wiggberg says.

The initiative is a pilot project, and if it goes well, he hopes for a continuation.

"This is untested ground where we try to meet labor market demand for IT skills in yet another way."