Well, i have certain medical conditions and disabilities that makes it near impossible for me to work more than 50% and im already refused 50% sick pension from the state.. Im in court apealing that, and have been since fall of 2010 (and im pretty much limited to the industrial type sector for other reasons, just any job might be directly harmful to my health), and even with entitled support from the unemployment agency, where they pay the company which hires me 80% of my salory initially, no one wants my qualified skills, and they are numerous and varied.. Im really good at operating cranes and forklifts, and with a month or so of rehearsal, im a qualified cnc-operator too. Im starting to give up on actually ever finding work, at a rate i can manage.
Sweden used to be good at taking care of people with different disabilities, but now we are stigmatized by the current government, and swedish people as a whole, and its ugly to be sick or disabled. No one wants you in their company if they can help it. And the few exceptions to that are usually small companies who are very sensitive to changes in the market. i was THIS damn close to getting hired back in january during an internship. But that small company's biggest customer just said "we wont give you much work this year". That guy ended up having to lay off like 4 people. Obviously he couldnt hire me then, but he said he wouldve have had he not lost so much work. Stuff like that just makes it even harder to keep trying. When you finally found a place which wants you, and the rug is pulled out beneath their feet by outsiders..
In 4 months ive been in the current unemployment program 2 years, which means i enter Phase 3. that basically means all the entitlements i have today are removed. like not having to work 100% because of recognized disabilites (without losing unemployment insurance), getting specialized help from the unemployment agency (they help me find potential employers who can adapt to my conditions, so i actually _can_ work), and stuff like that, it all is taken away from me. I will be forced to go to a place which is not adapted to my disabilities or field of expertise, to work for free. That company will receive $750 per person and month they can put to work, to make up stuff for unemployed to do, which is "good for society, but would not be done otherwise" as its called. Usually means working at a thrift store or stuff like that. The $750 i pay through taxes. The company putting me to work has no obligations to hire me, nor supply work clothes or anything like that. So in essence, you have to pay a company to let you work for them, at no cost to them. Doing stuff there is no real demand for. Its wrong in every sense.
Basically i will have to work with whatever they tell me, at 100% (which is impossible for me) and the unemployment agency is no longer allowed to help me find anything else such as i described above. My disabilities no longer means shit, and all my entitlements are removed. The special branch is no longer allowed to find me employers who can adapt etc. This means im stuck whereever im forced to go, if i want any kind of money to survive, pay bills and food etc. If i say no i cant even get wellfare. Im growing desperate and its really looking bleek...
To add a little trivia.. An middleaged man, confined to bed because he was basically paralyzed from neck down, got his full time sick pension removed a while back. The reason? "He can work laying from his bed". The guy could barely move his neck!
