Minister for Employment (Sweden)

The Minister for Employment^[1] (Swedish: Arbetsmarknadsminister) is a member of the Government of Sweden and is the head of the Ministry of Employment.

Minister for Employment
Arbetsmarknadsminister
Lesser coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent Johan Britz since 28 June 2025
Ministry of Employment
Member of	The Government
Appointer	The Prime Minister
Term length	Serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	Ingemund Bengtsson
Formation	1974
Website	www.regeringen.se/sveriges-regering/arbetsmarknadsdepartementet/johan-pehrson/

History

The position was introduced in 1974 during Palme I cabinet and abolished in 1998 under the Persson cabinet, when the responsibilities were transferred to the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications, where from 1998 to 2002, the deputy minister for industry, employment and communications and from 2002 to 2006, the minister for employment were ministers responsible for the issues. When the Reinfeldt cabinet took office in 2006, the position was reinstated.

List of officeholders

Color key

  Independent
Historical parties:   Lantmanna   Moderate   National Party   Liberals   Liberals   Liberals   Liberals
Present parties:   Social Democrats   Moderate   Centre   Left   Liberals   Christian Democrats   Green   Sweden Democrats

1974–1998
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Ingemund Bengtsson (1919–2000)	1 January 1974	8 October 1976	2 years, 281 days	Social Democrats	–	Palme I
		Per Ahlmark (1939–2018)	8 October 1976	7 March 1978	1 year, 211 days	Liberals	C–M–L	Fälldin I
		Rolf Wirtén (1931–2023)	7 March 1978	31 July 1980	2 years, 146 days	Liberals	– C–M–L	Ullsten Fälldin II
		Ingemar Eliasson (born 1939)	31 July 1980	8 October 1982	2 years, 69 days	Liberals	C–L	Fälldin III
		Anna-Greta Leijon (1939–2024)	8 October 1982	19 October 1987	5 years, 11 days	Social Democrats	–	Palme II Carlsson I
		Ingela Thalén (born 1943)	19 October 1987	11 January 1990	2 years, 84 days	Social Democrats	–	Carlsson I
		Mona Sahlin (born 1957)	11 January 1990	4 October 1991	1 year, 266 days	Social Democrats	–	Carlsson II
		Börje Hörnlund (born 1935)	4 October 1991	7 October 1994	3 years, 3 days	Centre	M–C–L–KD	Bildt
		Anders Sundström (born 1952)	7 October 1994	22 March 1996	1 year, 167 days	Social Democrats	–	Carlsson III
		Margareta Winberg (born 1947)	22 March 1996	6 October 1998	2 years, 198 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
		Björn Rosengren (born 1942)	6 October 1998	31 October 1998	25 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
Minister responsible for labor issues 1998–2006
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Mona Sahlin (born 1957)	6 October 1998	21 October 2002	4 years, 15 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
		Hans Karlsson (born 1946)	21 October 2002	6 October 2006	3 years, 350 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
2006–present
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Sven Otto Littorin (born 1966)	6 October 2006	7 July 2010	3 years, 274 days	Moderate	M–C–L–KD	Reinfeldt
		Tobias Billström (born 1973) Acting	7 July 2010	5 October 2010	90 days	Moderate	M–C–L–KD	Reinfeldt
		Hillevi Engström (born 1963)	5 October 2010	17 September 2013	2 years, 347 days	Moderate	M–C–L–KD	Reinfeldt
		Elisabeth Svantesson (born 1967)	17 September 2013	3 October 2014	1 year, 16 days	Moderate	M–C–L–KD	Reinfeldt
		Ylva Johansson (born 1964)	3 October 2014	10 September 2019	4 years, 342 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–MP	Löfven I Löfven II
		Eva Nordmark (born 1971)	10 September 2019	18 October 2022	3 years, 38 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–MP S/SAP–MP S/SAP	Löfven II Löfven III Andersson
		Johan Pehrson (born 1968)	18 October 2022	10 September 2024	1 year, 328 days	Liberals	M–L–KD	Kristersson
		Mats Persson (born 1980)	10 September 2024	28 June 2025	291 days	Liberals	M–L–KD	Kristersson
		Johan Britz (born 1975)	28 June 2025	Incumbent	48 days	Liberals	M–L–KD	Kristersson

Other ministers in the Ministry of Employment

In addition to the head of the ministry, the Ministry of Employment has at times also housed additional deputy ministers responsible for various areas such as immigration, gender equality, labor law, youth affairs, etc. These ministerial titles varied, and most often covered only a part of the minister's responsibilities, usually the dominant area of focus. For example, Anna-Greta Leijon served not only as the minister for immigration but also held responsibility for labor law issues^[2] and matters concerning disabled individuals in the workplace. Karin Andersson, as the deputy minister of employment, was responsible for gender equality and immigration issues,^[3] a combination that has recurred in later times.

In the 2019 government, the minister associated with the Ministry of Employment, in addition to the minister of employment, held the title of minister for gender equality/minister responsible for combating discrimination and segregation.^[4]

Before the establishment of the Ministry of Employment, many matters were handled within the Ministry of the Interior, where individuals such as Camilla Odhnoff were responsible for immigration and family affairs, including gender equality.^[5]

Name		Period	Party	Title
	Anna-Greta Leijon (1939–2024)	1 January 1974 – 8 October 1976	Social Democratic Party	Minister of immigration and minister for gender equality
	Eva Winther (1921–2014)	18 October 1978 – 12 October 1979	Liberal People's Party	Minister of immigration and minister for gender equality
	Karin Andersson (1918–2012)	12 October 1979 – 8 October 1982	Centre Party	Minister of immigration and minister for gender equality
	Anita Gradin (1933–2022)	8 October 1982 – 9 October 1986	Social Democratic Party	Minister of immigration and minister for gender equality
	Georg Andersson (born 1936)	9 October 1986 – 29 January 1989	Social Democratic Party	Minister of immigration
	Maj-Lis Lööw (born 1936)	29 January 1989 – 7 October 1991	Social Democratic Party	Minister of immigration and minister for gender equality
	Leif Blomberg (1941–1998)	7 October 1994 – 22 March 1996	Social Democratic Party	Minister of immigration
	Ulrica Messing (born 1968)	22 March 1996 – 6 October 1998	Social Democratic Party	Minister for labour law and minister for gender equality
	Erik Ullenhag (born 1972)	5 October 2010 – 3 October 2014	Liberal People's Party	Minister for integration
	Åsa Lindhagen (born 1980)	21 January 2019 – 5 February 2021	Green Party	minister for gender equality
	Märta Stenevi (born 1976)	5 February – 30 November 2021	Green Party	Minister for gender equality and minister for housing
	Eva Nordmark (born 1971)	10 September 2019 – 18 October 2022	Social Democratic Party	Minister for employment and minister for gender equality
	Johan Danielsson (born 1982)	30 November 2021 – 18 October 2022	Social Democratic Party	Minister for housing and deputy minister for employment
	Paulina Brandberg (born 1983)	18 October 2022 – 1 April 2025	Liberals	Minister for gender equality and deputy minister for employment
	Nina Larsson (born 1976)	1 April 2025 –	Liberals	Minister for gender equality