Conference Agenda

Agenda for the conference "A Common European Approach to Labour Shortages and Talent Attraction" on 3 December 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden.

One Day Conference 09:00-16:30

(in-person event)

08:30 Registration. Coffee and sandwich will be served.

09:00-09:10 Welcome address by Anders Hall, State Secretary to the Swedish Minister for Migration

09:10-10:30 Session 1: Initiatives on a European level to attract talent and retain skills

• Europe’s competition for talent: Focus on skills and innovation
  Lisa Andersson, Labour Market Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Migration Division

• Competing for global talent: The original and revised EU Blue Card Directive
  Micheline van Riemsdijk, Professor in Human Geography at Uppsala University
  
  
• Europe's Talent Puzzle - Fragmented Approaches to Winning the Global Competition for Talent
  Jasmijn Slootjes, Deputy Director, Migration Policy Institute Europe
  
  
• For a working Sweden
  Shawn Mendes, Director of International Affairs, Swedish Public Employment Service

Moderated by: Bernd Parusel, Senior Researcher in Political Science, SIEPS – Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies

10:30-11:00 Coffee break with a fruit/a light snack

11:00-12:30 Session 2: Attracting talent and facilitating labour migration – examples from EMN Member and Observer Countries

• Labour migration in times of labour shortages: EU-wide and Austrian trends, challenges and opportunities in focus
  Leila Hadj Abdou, Deputy Head, Policy Research and Migration Law Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM) / EMN Austria
  
  
• Work in Lithuania: A virtual tour
  Vydūnas Trapinskas, Director of Global Talent Attraction Department, "Work in Lithuania" Programme, Invest Lithuania
  
  
• Introducing Work in Finland – Finland’s approach to talent attraction and labour migration collaboration
  Santeri Ojala, Manager, International Operations, Business Finland, Work in Finland
  
  
• Ways of recruiting skilled workers from non-EU countries – An overview of Germany’s policies
  Silvia Rager, Senior Expert, Department for International Relations, German Federal Employment Agency Headquarters
  

Moderated by: Jonas Hols, expert, EMN Sweden

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-13:45 Introduction to break-out sessions and moving to the break-out rooms

13:45-15:00 Break-out sessions

• Break-out session 1: Ready to employ? Challenges and needs in employing labour migrants.
  • Anders Barane, Senior Advisor, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR)
  • Paula Kossack, Lead Analyst for the Government Assignment “Work in Sweden” at Statistics Sweden

Moderated by: Hanna Geurtsen, Deputy Head of the Special Focus Area on the Work Permit Process, the Swedish Migration Agency

• Break-out session 2: EU-internal movement of third country nationals – Moving to a new employer
  • Eva Englund, Senior Advisor, Greater Copenhagen
  • Helena Renström, Head of Society Expo 2026, Skellefteå municipality, Sweden

Moderated by: Elin Jansson, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Justice, Sweden

• Break-out session 3: Student and researchers – How can the transition from talented student to valuable employee be facilitated?
  • Anna Broeders, Talent & Community Manager, Switch to Sweden
  • Therese Lindkvist, Project Manager, EURAXESS Sweden

Moderated by: Erik Litborn, National Contact Point for Horizon Europe (HEU), Sweden's Innovation Agency (Vinnova)

15:00-15:30 Coffee break and return to the joint conference room

15:30-16:20 Conclusions/next steps

• Hanna Geurtsen, Deputy Head of the Special Focus Area on the Work Permit Process, the Swedish Migration Agency
• Mats Wessman, Project Manager for the government assignment “Work in Sweden”, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth

16:20-16:30 Closing remarks by Anna Lindblad, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Director-General,
Swedish Migration Agency

* The conference agenda in pdf-format can be accessed here Pdf, 197.3 kB..