This adjustment will predominantly impact professional sectors such as healthcare, sales, agriculture, gardening, forestry, berry picking, fishing, and professions requiring shorter training or orientation, according to Migrationverket.
Typically, says Migrationverket, individuals in these sectors earn salaries below the new maintenance requirement, as noted by Carl Bexelius, head of legal affairs at the agency.
"The government's decision establishes that a reasonable standard of living for a work permit holder equates to a salary of at least 80 percent of the median salary, as published by Statistics Sweden", he says in a press release.
There are no transitional rules, which means that everyone who applies for a permit after November 1 must have a salary of at least 27,360 kronor a month. This applies regardless of whether people work full-time or part-time.
The raise will impact both new and renewing applicants, including individuals with pending applications.
– This policy shift aims to bolster the position of work permit holders within the job market and combat wage competition driven by lower earnings, according to Bexelius.
The decision to more than double the minimum salary for work permit holders has drawn stinging criticisms from employers.
Karin Johansson, vice president of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) said:
–This is a dramatic show of strength. Politicians are now intervening in the setting of salaries. It has always been the employers and unions who have set the wages in Sweden and that is how it should continue to be.
She had the support of Per Hidesten, the CEO of the employers' organization, Industriarbetsgivarna.
– The policy of non-interference by the state in wage negotiation has been a practice that has proven beneficial for all parties involved.