THE CoMMUNAL

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THE SWEDISH CoMMUNAL

INDUSTRIES GROUP

1982/83

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The Swedish Communal lndustries Group exists to provide employment for those whose occupational handicaps exc/ude them from other work. This in tum ca/Is for personnel development measures, in which workplace induction measures play an import- an! part. Stig Andersson began his employment with a hands-on tour of the various seetians of the workshop.

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CONTENTS:

Comments by the Group

President . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. ... .. ... .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . 2

The Labour Market ... ... ... 4

Social Costs -a C om parison ... ... .... ... 6

PersonneJ . ... ... ... ... ... 8

Corporate Development ... 11

Exports ... 15

Operating Result and Financial Status .. ... .. .... 16

The Regional Enterprises ... 20

Profit and Loss Account for the Swedish Communal !ndustries Group ... 29

Balance Sheet for the Swedish Communallndustries Group ... 3D Financial Analysis, the Swedish Communal Industries Group ... 3 2 Profit and Loss Account, the SamhällsföretagFoundation ... 33

Balance Sheet, the Samhällsföretag Foundation ... 34

CommentsontheFinalAccounts ... 35

Report of the Au ditors ... 38

Board ofDirectors and Management ... 39 Addresses ... L!-1

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A ^JOB1DG01D

Having a job to go to is something which many people take for granteet True, it can be heavy going sometimes, but work means a great deal more than just earning a living. Wherever I work, be it behind a desk, at a lathe or at a printing press, I am one of a team. I am needed for a purpose and I want people to show respect for what I do.

I can develop my professional ability, and I have a cbance of improving my self-confidence.

The activities of the Swedish Communal Industries Group are based on the principle that everybody is entitled to experience this. Employees in our Group are entitled to be proud of what they do. Our work input is an important resource in Swedish enterprise.

Unemployment comes as a heavy blow to everybody affected by it. But it can mean particularly great difficulties for a person excluded from employment on account of disability. Where many people are concerned, the alternative is early retirement on a disability pension, and perhaps confinement to a care institution, solitude and is- olation. l t is the task of the Swedish Communal Indus- tries Group to offer employment to occupationally handicapped persons who would otherwise be excluded from working Iife.

1,200 MORE EMPLOYEES

During 1982/83 we, like other enterprises, have had to contend with the effects of a profound recession. Prob- lems in the labour market have increased the demand for job apportunities within our Group. This makes it all the more encouraging to note that we were able during the past year to raise the number of occupationally handicapped persons employed within the Group by about

Gerhard Larsson, Group President of Swedish Communal Industries:

Our workforce is a resource to reckon with. We have don e weil in spite of the downtum during the past year. We now have to face an increasing- ly austere economic climate, hut we cannot af- Jord to unde"ate the importance of havinga job,

especially where the occupationally handicapped are concemed.

1,200. This was the heaviest annual increase in our per- sonneJ strength so far, and it was achieved entirely by improving the utilisation of existing resources.

The rise in personneJ strength was made possible by Group sales revenues increasing by no lessthan 23%

compared with preceding years. This growth of sales was partly due to the structural reorganisation which has now been commenced within and between the Group's eonsti- totent companies. Export sales, which have doubJed since the Group was established, now stand at SEK 158.5 million. ·

At the same time we have been able to restrain the rise in costs. All in all, this has enabled us to reduce the State grant required by 5 percentage units, to 131%, during

1982/83. In real terms, we have been able to reduce our Q

annual grant requirement by SEK 180 million compared with the situation applying when we started in 1979/80.

PERSONNELDEVELOPMENT

The improverrlent in the Group's productian result has been partly due to systematic measures of personneJ development. Measures of this kind also play an important part in improving the weil being and rehabilitation of our employees. This has been confurned by the attitude surveys undertaken among our personnel, and it is also reflected by absenteeism at our workplaces having declined from 33% to 27% over a three-year period. We anticipate a forther decline in absenteeism as education, job var- iation, various individlial technical and social supporlive measures etc. come to be more and more widely and ac- curately applied within the Group.

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The development of technical working aids serves the dualf?u.rpose of making good a disability and improving worksh<;>P_ productt.vtty. --:41 the Olofström works of Bfekingeprodukter, a ~tllmg .m.achzne w~th

pneumatic feed has been made up out C?f 7 lfPTigh~ dn/l mg machmes and a steel frame. In this way less mobtlity ts requtred from the hand and arm of the operator, and at the same time manufacturing is made more efficient.

COMMERCIAL VIABILITY

A great deal of effort has been devoted to improving our commercial viability. Discussions with representatives of commercial enterprise, partly through the medium of our joint liaison body, have also pointed to a greater accuracy of pricing on our part. Meas1;1~es to improve. our com~er

cial competence and competitive strength Will be contillu- ed and m our subsequent activities we would like to se

m~re emphasis put on supplementin~ rather tha':l competing with other enterprises. ~ccor~ngly, we WJsh to. develop our routines of co-operat10n With ?ther enterpnses.

This is logical, since most of our output ts already concemed with piecework and subcontracting. .

The Group is still divided between a great many dtffer- ent sectors and buisness areas, and we must therefore press on with our efforts to achieve structural reorganisat- on and develop intemal co-operation on production and marketing. Structural reorganisation is a necessary means of improving Group finances and thus safeguarding the jobs of our occupationally handicapped employees.

SOCIAL OBJECITVES

The National Labour Market Board (AMS) anticipates heavy demand for job opportunities within the Group during the next few years. Meantime the adverse economic situation is prompting more insistent demand on the part of Govemment and Riksdag for a continning reduction in the State grants required for our activities. In a situation of this kind, less importance is liable to be att- ached to the Group's social objectives. To prevent this happening, we have defined the content of our social objectives more specifically in preparation for 1983/84 and

we have indicated the resource inputs and fonds required for an acceptable attainment of those objectives. Our work during the next few years will be guided by our social objectives as they have now been refined, and we have every confidence in achieving them, so Iong as the Govemment and Riksdag allow us the necessary economic scope as defined in our longterm assessment . During the spring of 1983, the Riksdag made certam amendments, effective from 1st July 1983, to the structure etc. of company boards of directors within the Group. These changes have r.esulted. in smoother c~ntacts

between Swedish communalmdustnes and the reg10nal enterprises. Management has also been sopplied with a greater measure of commercial expertis~, and this. sh~uld

facilitate the necessary process of seetonal co-ordma~on

within the Group. In this way we hope to be able to Im-

prove the Group's finance without relinquishing our fundamental social objectives.

GERHARD LARSSON

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THE LABOUR MARKET

The activities of the Swedish Communal Industries Group are an importont part of labour market policy, aimed ex- press/y at safeguarding the right of the disab/ed to empoly- ment.

GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT

In J une 1983, 4.3 million persons were employed in the Swedish labour market, which was roughly the same figure as in 1982. Industrial employment, which has been declining in recent years, remained stationary in 1982/

83.

Unemployment in June 1983 amounted to 158,000 (3.5% of the labour force), which was 27,000 more than in June 1982. A total of 148,700 persons in J une 1983 were invalved by measures of labour market policy in the form of relief work projects, wage-subsidised employment, employment within the Swedish Communa1 Indus- tries Group, labour market training (not including in- plant training) and examination/testmg at Employability Assessment Institutes. The corresponding figure for June 1982 bad been 132,100.

In the prevailing adverse employment situation, the first victims are persons who already have difficulty in competing for the available job opportunities. Occupa-

tionally handicapped persons who have been put out of work as a result of personneJ cuts or who are new en- trants to employment and have never gained a proper foothold in the labour market are therefore liable to remain·unemployed for Iong periods. Technica1 progress and growing demands for efficiency and rationaJisation also have a particulary heavy impact on persons whose disability prevents them from showing the necessary flex- ibility at work. This is reflected, for example, by the growth of early retirement, with more than 300,000 persons now receiving disability pensions.

BRIGHTER OUTLOOK FOR 1984

The generally high levet of unemployment is expected to persist for the remainder of 1983, and it is not until spring 1984 that some slight improvement is anticipated.

The uptum already in progress is then expected to boost industria1 employment, but no such increase is expected within the public sector. The regional imbalances in the labour market are expected to persist for a Iong time to come, and the slight improvement occurring in the employment situation during 1984 will do little to change matters for the occupationally handicapped. The need for supportive measures of labour market policy on be-

Labour markel policy measures. Source: National Labour M arket Board (AMS) and Labour Fource Surveys (AKU).

Relative unemployment rates(%) and no. of persons in volved in labour market poli- cy measures, viz reliefwork (job creation projects), employment with the Communal lndustries Group, wage-subsidised empoloyment, labour market training (not in- cluding in-plant training and examination/testing at Employability Assessment ln- stitutes).

Thousands

150

l ^l

3

2

50-j i

i

[ '

1978 1979 1980

n No. of persons involved in labour market

...__. policy measures. Annual averages.

1981 1982 1983*

*) First half of the year 1983.

Relative unemployment rates (%), annual averages. ., · ··

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)

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half of these groups will remain heavy and may actually increase.

Problems of the occupationally handicapP.ed are primarily to be solved by measures taken in the regular labour market, but demand for job apportunities within the Swedish Communal Industries Group is expected to remain heavy for the next few years.

lABOUR MARKET POLICY

The main task of labour market policy is to promate mutual actjustment of labour supply and demand. In times of dirninishing demand for labour, it is also the task of labour market policy to provide training and temporary employment for persons who would otherwise be out of work. Problems of readjustment in the labour market have compounded the difficulties of the occupationally handicapped. In addition to pure placement measures, therefore, labour market policy has also been made to include rehabilitation and guidance at Employability As- sessment (AMI) Institutes, as well as training/ education and other measures of vocational preparation. Very often these measures are insufficient to secure occupationally handicapped persons an opportunity of employment in the regular labour market. Grants of various kinds are then available for technical modifications, work assistance, wage-subsidised employment etc. Under the wage subsidisation scheme, employment offices can contribute 75% or, in some cases, 90% of actual wage costs for the fust year, after which the grant is gradually scaled down.

THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

The question of employment with the Swedish Commu- nal lndustries Group does not arise until the Employ- ment Service has tried every possible means of placing an occupationally handicapped jobseeker in the regular labour market.

The Employment Service has access to all job apportunities for occupationally handicapped persons within the Group, and persons needing employment within the Group are referred there by employment offices.

Every month over 30,000 jobseekers are registred by employment offices as occupationally handicapped. 'This earresponds to roughly 10 or 12% of the total number of jobseekers at employment offices. There is a certain tumover. Thus every month in 1982/83, an average of 553 persons obtained employment in the regular labour market, including 333 on wage subsidies. Every month an- other 1,053 occupationally handicapped persons were referred to relief work projects, a temporary form of employment. A further 825 embarked on market training and 573 were enrolled at Employability Assessment ln- stitutes. The Communal Industries Group hires 315 occupationally handicapped persons every month. At the end of 1982/83 there remained 26,300 occupationally handi- capperl jobseekers registered with employment offices.

PERSONNELTURNOVER

The workshop joint consultation groups, which include representatives of local employment offices, are concerned with both recruitment and personnel development at workshop level.

A total of 3,789 occupationally handicapped persons were recruited in 1982/83, which was 414 up on the preceding year. About 25% of these new employees bad been examined/tested at employability assessment institutes prior to recruitment. About 50% of all employees have mental, intellectual or sociomedical disibilities.

These groups have increased in relation to other categories of physical disability. Temporary or permanent dis-

ability pensions are being received by 25% of the Group's employees, and these benefits are co-ordinated with earnings under special regulations. The average age of the personnel is 46, which is four years higher than the personnel recruited durlog the year. Fifty-eight percent of the Group's employees are men and 42% women.

The Group and AMS are currently engaged on a joint investigation of the selective criteria governing recruitment. An earlier survey indicated that it was occupationally handicapped persons with the greatest employment difficulties who bad found j obs within the group.

Theemployment offices are also required if possible to place established Group employees in the regular labour market. Personnel wastage among occupationally handi- capperl employees in 1982/83 totalled 10.8% or 2,633 persons. 317 persons ( 1. 3%) obtained employment in the regular labour market through the Employment Service.

Others left on account of early retirement on disability pension, attainment of the regular retiring age or for other reasons. In addition there were 811 persons who left the Group and concerning whom we have no particu-

Jobseekers are referred to the Swedish Com- munal Industries Group by the public Em- ployment Service, which a/so has the task.of procuring employment at other workplaces for

Group employees.

Iars at present. A doser study has now begun concerning their reasons for leaving.

The chances of increasing the number of employees transferred to the regular labour market do not binge primarily on efforts made by the Group itself. The employment situation, the support available at prospective workplaces and the ability of employment offices to reserve sufficient time for measures of these kinds are crucially im portant

ANADVERSE ECONOMIC S!TUATION

In the current economic situation, the Communal Indus- tries Group is being required to improve its profitability while at the same time providing jobs for a targer number of occupationally handicapped persons. The protracted recession has made it more difficult for the Group to generate additional job apportunities by augmenting its volume of sales. The current uptum may therefore lead to a general improvement in the Group's position as regards both job apportunities and finances.

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l

SociAL CosTS

-A COMPARISON

During the spring of 1983, a comparasion was undertaken of the cost to society of work within the Communal Industries Group and certain other measures.

WORKWITHIN

THE COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES GROUP

The Group's activities provide rueaningful employment for occupationally handicapped persons who would otherwise be excluded from the labour market. Employ- ment with the Group provides a living wage. Measures such as disability pension or unemployment benefit give the inrlividual a Iivelihood but no occupation. Relief work provides both a Iivelihood and employment, but it is not primarily designed for occupationally hanrlicapped persons with a degree of functional impairment entitling them to employment with the Communal Industries Group.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPARISON WI1H DISABILITY PENSION

A research report by Ass. Prof. Ernst Jonsson, "Social Acconting", published in 1981, deals with the socio-

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economic cost of sheltered employment and rlisability pensions. This study reveals that, if the welfare benefit of a job is valued more than about SEK 8,000 per job opportunity, sheltered employment is more profitable than rlisability pensions in socio-econornic terms.

Since that study was undertaken, the Group's profitability has improved to such an extent that sheltered employment in 1982/83 was socio-economically remunera- tive in relation to rlisability pension even without any value being put on the social welfare benefits of having a job. Employment within the Communal Industries Group therefore bears comparsion in socio-economic terms with measures merely providing occupationally hanrlicapped persons with a livelihood.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPARISON WITH WAGE-SUBSIDISED

EMPLOYMENT

Employers hiring occupationally handicapped persons can qualify for wage subsirlies. The commonest arrange- ment is forthese subsirlies to be paid at rates of 75-50- 25-25% respectively over a four-year period, at the end of which they are normally rliscontinued.

Calculations have shown wage subsirlies to be socio- economically superior to employment within the Com- munal Industries Group, but this is conrlitional on the wage subsidy reflecting full compensation for the dis-

In the course of public debate, comparisons are sometimes made between various supporlive measures and the costs they involve.

Different measures, however, refer to different categories and have different effects. Employment within the Communallndus- tries Group means a Iivelihood and productive occupation for people whose occupational handicaps exclude them from other kinds of employment.

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Socio- Public Meaningful Reserved for the economic east l) employment occupationally

Policy measure east handicapped

Employment with the Communal

lndustries Group - - Yes Yes

Disability pension De a re r Cheaper No No Campensatian from

unemployment fund De are r Cheaper No No

Wage-subsidised

employment Cheaper Cheaper Yes Yes

Relief work -

capital projects (2) Dearer Yes No

Relief work -

other projects Cheaper Cheaper Yes No

(l) Not allowlng for the value of reduced care lnPIJlS and future output intreases re- su~ing from rehabilitation.

(2) The socio-econornic resuh depends on the permanent value of the investment

Subsistence-creation measures: Employment with the Communal lndustries Group compared with certain other policy measures. In this table, socio-economic and public eos/s are compared with the costs entai/ed by employment with the Group.

abled employee's inferior production capacity and on all other things being equal. The extent to which wage-subsidised employment is superior in profitability will depend on the permanent employment effect obtained and on the terms on which wage subsicties are paid. But all other things are not equal:

- The possibility of wage-subsidised employment is always considered before a jobseeker is referred to the Communal Industries Group. If wage-subsidised employment is a feasible alternative, the individual concerned is not referred to the Group. As a result, persons with slighter disabilities are referred to wage-subsidised employment and those with severer disabilities are referred to the Communal Industries Group.

- The Group is also represented in localities where opportunities of wage-subsidised employment are limited or non-existent.

- The Group's activities are wholly designed for disabled persons, man y of whom have multiple handicaps. Wage-subsidised employment provides a mar- ginal number of jo b opportunities with each employ- er. This is the most important reason for the differ- ence in cost.

- Employers hiring personnel under the wage subsidisation scheme can also qualify for other grants. The State grant to the Communal Industries Group is in-

tended to cover all additional costs entailed by the part which the Group has to play in connection with labour market policy.

Thus all in all, employment with the Group is not an·

alternative but rather a complement to wage-subsidised employment. Therefore i t is not true to say that wage- subsidised employment is generally more profitable than the Group's activities in socio-economic terms, because there are differences between the two as regards target groups and the location of workplaces and in other re- spects.

DISTRIBUTIVE EFFECfS

Socio-economic assessments do not reveal any distributive effects between the State, the municipality and the occupationally handicapped individual. A general study has therefore been made of winners and losers by Group actlvities as compared with other measures.

The following are the main conclusions arrived at concerning work within the Communal Industries Group:

- By comparison with measures sole/y concerned with ensuring a livelihood, e. g. disability pension, the State is always the loser and the municipalities the winner.

- Compared with measures also providing employment, e.g. wage-subsidised employment, the socio-economic benefit is shared between the State, the municipality and the occupationally handicapped individual.

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GROUP REVIEW

PERSONNEL

The number of occupationally handicapped employees rose by about 1,200 during 1982/83, and at the same time there was an increase in individual attendance. The number of directly recruited employees fell by 185.

The average number of year-workers in the Group and the total number of employees hired at the close of the year can be seen from the table below.

The proportion of occupationally handicapped employees has risen from 81% to over 82% of the total workforce. Occupationally handicapped part-time employees amounted to 28% of Group personneJ in 1982/

83 as against 27% the preceding year.

Outside the Group itself, 344 employees (342 in 1981/82) are stationed at five private sheltered workshops. The Group subsidises the activities of these workshops by special agreement and keeps their actlvities under supervision.

ABSENTEEISM STILL DECLINING

Absenteeism, not including holidays, among the occupationally handicapped employees amounted to 27.7% for the year. This was 1.1% less than last year and more than 5% down on thefigurefor 1979/80, the year in which the Group assumed responsibility for these activities. Ab- senteeism varies from 5% to over 40% at the individual workshop. Measures have been taken to reduce longterm absenteeism.

CAPACITY EXPLOITATION

Capacity exploitation, defined as the ratio between the actual and potential numbers of working hours per place and year, expresses the extent to which fixed capacity in the form of facilities, equipment and direct employees ( salarled staff, supervisory personnel etc.) is utilised.

Maximum capacity exploitation earresponds to 1,600 working hours per place and year.

Capacity exploitation in 1982/83 was 79% (1,260 working hours per place), which was 4 percentage units

No. employed at 30 June 30000l

25000~

20000~ 15000~

10000 5000

1980

O Hired after referral frorr, the Employment Service

1981 1982

fE:'! Personnel h i red directly

1983

The Group aims to improve its capacity exploitation while keeping the number of direct employees more or less con- stant.

up on the preceding year. Before the Group was formed, capacity exploitation was barely 1,100 working hours per place and year (68% ). Thus capacity exploitation has steadily risen and currrent plans indicate that it will attain its practical ceiling (about 90%) during the 1986/87 operating year.

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS

The Swedish Communal Industries Group applies the national agreement between the SFO sectorial committee for the Group and the relevant LO unions (Metalwork- ers', Wood Conversion Industry Workers', Factory Work- er', Printing Workers', and Textile and Clothing Workers') to all its workers, i.e. both occupationally handicapped employees and persons hired dirrectly (instructors etc.).

Mean no. year workers No. employed at 30 June 80/81 81/82 82/83 1981 1982 1983 Hired after referral

from the Employment

Service 18108 19079 20769 22580 23551 24707

Hired directly (ins!ruc-

14051

tors, etc) 1455 1333 1681 1560 1381

Salaried staff and su·

pervisory personnel

(incl. health care staff) 3398 3668 3696 3788 3891 3885

Total 22911 24202 25798 28049 29002 29973

Permanent employees at the close of the fiscal year and average no. year-workers 1980181-1982/83. The average is based on attendance figures for each category as per RFV (National So- cial Insurance Board) standards. A//owance has been made for our special absenteeism situation and personnel structure.

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This agreement takes the form of a normal wage agreement with 7 pay groups. Pay group classification is based on the standard of difficulty of the job cancerned and in- volves a simplilied process of job evaluation.

The levet of pay within the Group corresponds to rather less than 90% of the levet of pay for the LO unions cancerned elsewhere in the industrial sector.

Collective agreements were concluded during the year conceming contract work office cleaning. An agreement has also been concluded with the Cornrnercial Employees' Union to supplement the seetorlat agreement for sales and warehousing staff.

In the salarled and supervisory fields, where agreements are concluded with PTK, employees' earnings - by union seetars - earrespond to 95-96% of the median level of earnings in comparable collective bargaining seetars.

The agreement concluded in 1981 with the PTK unions conceming occupationally handicapped employees within the salaried seetar now includes about 100 employees.

New travet compensation regulations, in Iine with the general agreement on compensation for trave) and living expenses, are being applied to all personnel as from 1983.

CLOSER DEFINITION OF THE GROUP'S SOCIAL OBJECTIVES

In recent years the Government and Riksdag have grown more and more insistent in their demands for a strearnlin- ing of Group activities and a reduction of the State grants required to cover its deficit. These demands have invar- iably been combined with a stipulation that the Group's social objectives are not to be relinquished.

During the 1982/83 operating year, the Group has therefore tried to define the minimum resource inputs required for the attainment of its social objectives in spite of demands for econornisation measures to comply with previously defined economic frarnes.

Social objectives are a primary consideration for the Group. They can be divided into the following subsidiary objectives:

l. Within the frarnework of its allotted resources, the Group must offer meaningful employrnent to the greatest possible nurnber of occupationally handicapped persons lacking alternative job apportunities and referred to the Group by the Employrnent Service.

2. The Group must give each employee apportunities of personal development so as to improve his or her work capacity. Actjustment of the individual to employrnent within the Group is just as important as measures to irnprove his or her prospects of obtaining and keeping a job in the regular labour market.

The productian of goods and services eonstitotes one means to this end.

Subsidiary objective l is cancerned with personneJ strength. The aim here is to draw on existing resources as far as possible. The Group must be on the spot wherever job apportunities for the occupationally handicapped are needed most. Job availability is also a question of geogra- phical proxirnity to our workshops. TravetJing tirnes of up to 35 or 40 rninutes should be acceptable, providing suitable transport is available.

The Govemrnent and Riksdag have called on the Group to offer employment to a targer nurnber of severely handicapped persons. This category comprises persons excluded from employrnent by a particularly severe physical disability, moderate mental retardation, a severe mental handicap, a socio-medical handicap invalving

GROUPREVIEW

serious problem of drug or aleobol abuse, or combin- ations of these disabilities. No universal minimum has been stipultated conceming the work capacity required, but the employee is expected to be able to work at least half time after an adequate induction period. Our ability to provide employrnent for a targer nomber of seriously handicapped persons is limited by our capacity for act- justing work to suit the aptitodes of the individual. If our finances do not allow us to employ a targer nomber of severely handicapped persons, the Group will not achieve this specific social objective.

Employment with the Group must be meaningful. This is a question to be decided according to the potentialities and limitations of the individual.

Subsidiary objective 2 is cancerned with the ability of the employee to develop his work capacity. The transition of the employee to a job outside our Group can be a criterion of success, but this criterion should not be over emphasised. Actjustment to and training for work within the Group itself are very important to the individual but also have a major hearing on the Group's results.

PERSONNELDEVELOPMENT

We have defind what we regard as the substance of personnel development in a special document entitled "Per- sonnel development measures for occupationally handi-

One of the important tasks of personneJ develop- ment is to broaden the range of skills possessed by the Group's employees.

capped employees of the Communal Industries Group".

This docurnent deals with various measures, ranging from recruitrnent to efforts to facilitate transition to the regular labour market. It is cancerned with general measures airned at assuring everybody of good working conditions, e.g. personnel planning, organisational development, ca- operation routines, training and education, information, ca-determination, the occupational environment, occupational safety and health, personnel health care and so forth. It is cancerned with specific measures retating to the working situation of the individual employee. These may involve developing varialls forms of individualised support and practical assistance, e.g. work assistants, es- corts, support from fellow employees, the modification of

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GROUP REVIEW

SPR (Social Planning and Reporting) gives employees more exten- sive apportunities ofinfluencing their working situation andisthus conduclive to more active involvement.

educatio~al measures to suit various types of disability, the technical and social modification of individual workstations, and so on.

During 1982/83 we developed a model of "social planning and reporting". Experiments have been conducted during the year at Blekingeprodukter, The Kal- marsund Group and Safac. The results of the first phase completed in February 1983, have been presented in a ' special report The point of departure has been that we have both commercial and social objectives and that both must be planned and followed up simultaneously. A new experimental period, airned at procuring forther experience, began during the operating year at the Kalmarsund Group, Höglandsverken, Pileprodukter, Visbyprodukter and elsewhere.

We have also tried to develop methods of rehabilitat- ing employees with drug and a/cohol abuse problems. This work has been conducted partly on a general basis, in- volving discussions of policy and attitudes at the workplace as a whole, and also individually, for example by means of support from fellow employees. Externa/ly too, efforts have been made to improve and develop contacts with public authorities and voluntary organisations.

About fifteen enterprises have started special actlvities airned at rehabilitating drug and aleobol abusers. The experience gained from these activities will be reported during 1984/85.

Joint _consultati_on groups (whose members include representatives of umons, personnel health care and the Em- ployment Service) have im portant tasks to perform in connection with personnel development. To facilitate and develop the work of these groups, the brochure "The j<?int consultation group" has been supplemented by a VIdeo recording and working material to illustrate the way in which a group of this kind can operate. The entire corpus of material will provide a foundation for special workshop sessions on the subject.

In the field of technical adjustment, an idea bank was

estab~shed during the 1982/83 operating year torecord

~echm~al arrange~ents for overcoming the occupational unpediments entalled by various functional impairments.

A COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONPROGRAMME

Most enterprises entail planned and budgeted intemal training and education schemes. The scope and direction of educational measures have been elucidated by means of a special project entitled Education for the Occupa- tionally Handicapped (UFA). A great deal of effort has been devoted to developing curricula, teaching materials and supervisor training in connection with basic vocational courses in the main industrial sectors. Ca-operation has been established in many quarters with basic adult education, municipal adult education, labour market training and adult education associations. All these measures, combined with im proved routines for planning and following up training measures, led to a substantial 0

increase in the volorne of training, especially where occupationally handicapped employees were concerned.

Most of the persons referred to the Group are in need of vocational education, since they lack both sectorial experience and previous training. It has become increas-

ingly possible for training in basic skills to be offered O

to persons with a deficient command of reading, writing and arithmetic. Educational actlvities corresponding on average to 15 hours per employee were undertaken in the course of the year. In addition, most enterprises arranged 40 hours' induction training for newly recruited personnel.

Alargenomber of courses and seminars, presentedin the educational catalogue "The right course for 1982/

83 ", were arranged for directly recruited personnel.

These actlvities are designed to raise the standard of industrial and social competence and to harmonise attitudes conceming the tasks, goals and policy of the Group. Major programmes addressed to supervisory staff and works managers deserve special mention where these educational actlvities. are concerned. In addition, calcula- tion and production 9ata courses and pricing seminars were conducted in connection with the review of our pricing policy.

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GROUP REVIEW

CORPORATEDEVELOPMENT

The Swedish Communal Industries Group is a /arge con- glamerate with the structure of a small business.

Corporate development comprises all the measures tak- en at various levels to improve our goal achievement.

Personnel development is a col/ective term for the deve- /opment of our most important resource - our emp/oyees.

Commercial deve/opment is a collective term for all the measures aimed at improving our competitive strength.

Here is a summary of the ma in commercial development measures now under way.

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPTMENT

The Swedish Communal lndustries Group has the structure of a small business. Each enterprise ts active within a large number of ~~erent business areas, tums out a large number of products - both independently and on a subcontracting basis - and operates in a large number of markets.

The operating grant reduction demanded by the Gov- ernment and Riksdag connot be achieved in the Iong run without both improving the division of labour between Group enterprises and the ca-ordination of the Group's competences.

This will mean each enterprise concentrating on a smaller number of fields, which in tum will have to be co-ordinated with those of other members of the Group.

Ca-operation with regard to marketing and product development mainly occurs at inter-company levet. The need, from the employees' of point of view, for jobs of varying camplexity will not be appreciably affected by ro-ordination measures.

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Each enterprise has undertaken development planning during the year, and this has resulted in an initial development plan for each enterprise and a consolidated development plan for the Group. These development plans have been essentially based on the assessments made by each individual enterprise, no allowance being made for assessments relating to the Group as a whole.

The next step will now be for assessments of this latter kind to be supplied to each enterprise on the basis of its own plans. Adjusted development plans for the period up to and including 1986/87 are to be finallsed by eady

1984.

STRUCTIJRAL DECISIONS

The results of various structural inquiries are gradually being fed inta the earparate development planning process. These inquiries have elucidated Group involvment in various seetors/business areas and have included assessments of such points as finance, employment, the state of competition and market prospects. Various measures have been decided on by the Group, in consultation with the enterprises concerned, in the light of these inquiries.

Structural decisions of this kind were made in 1982/83 concerning textiles/working clothes, wood-backed files,

packaging, microfilming, electrical hearing apparatus, lighting, play apparatus/toys, technical aids/aids for the disabled, and wooden shoes/ clogs.

Forther structural decisions during the autumn of 1983 will cancern indoor furniture, plastics, presentation arti- cles, sport and recreation products and other sectors.

Structural decisions mainly in vol ve assessment of the following:

o Productian requirements versus the potentialities and limitations of the occupationally handicapped.

o Finance, especially in the Iong term.

o lovestment requirements.

o The state of competition and market prospects.

o Existing competence within the Group.

o The need for ca-ordination and the mode of ca-operation.

o Prospects of limiting imports or boasting exports.

o The need for additional efforts to develop the field concerned.

o Reduction/ phasing out of current commitments.

Microfilming of archives is a field in which the Group has now improved its competence. The Kal- marsund Group is currently microfilming Swedish newspapers da ting as far back as the 17th century in an assignment received from the Royal Library.

NEW FIELDS OF ACTIVITY

At present the Group's activities are almost wholly con- fined to manufactoring industry.

The Group's aim of providing meaningful employment at the )east possible east to the State argues in favour of labour intensive activities. More and more of the jobseekers registerlog at employment offices and needing to be referred to the Group have white-collar backgrounds. In

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GROUP REVIEW

addition, existing employees need job apportunities in the service sector.

The Group is therefore making active efforts to find suitable activities outside the manufacturing sector.

PIECEWORK AND SUBCONTRACTING PREDOMINATE

Piecework and subcontracting account for two-thirds of Group invoiced sales. The Group also intends these categories to account for a large proportion of future sales, but at the same time it proposes to develop more longterm ca-operation and contractual arrangements with other enterprises.

The latest downtum has clearly indicated the necessity of also devoting resources to developing and marketing our own products, in order to achieve steadier subscription.

COMPETillON

Productian of goods and services constitutes one means of achieving the fundamental aims of social and labour market policy. The contributions made by the Group must not be used as a means of barrning other enterprises except insofar as actvantages are gained through competition on equal terms.

The competitive behaviour of the Group, above all as represented in its pricing, has been a topic of debate during the past year. Although occasional mistakes are made in the Group, just as in other enterprises, no general findings have emerged to suggest that the Group, on the strength of the grants it receives, is failing to compete on equal terms with other enterprises.

Many of the Group's activities are concemed with dec- lirung markets, e.g. wooden shoes. In cases of this kind, possible means of adapting productian are constantly being considered. Where wooden shoes are concerned, this has resulted among other things in a heavy reduction of output and in efforts to develop new export markets.

CO-OPERATION PARTNERS

The Group has an impressive output capacity, and we are trying to establish co-operation with other enterprises as a means of achieving our social and economic objectives.

In order to find sales outlets for its products, the Group needs to obtain competence conceming market needs, product development and sales. By co-operating

Wood conversion 32%

Miscellaneous 14%

with outside enterprises which have these competences, we can in some cases refrain from building up our own.

Thus there is no intrinsic advantage in the Group itself building up competence of a kind which co-operation with other enterprises will enable us to achieve on terms campatible with the aims of our activities.

The subscription for a large proportion of output capacity for piecework and subcontracting shows that the Group is essentially a compliment rather than a rival to regular enterprise. But we also need to improve our competence and our competitive strength as a ca-operation partner in order to make effective use of the resources at our disposal.

SECTORIAL BREAKDOWN

The Group's activities cover a wide spectrum of manufacturing operations. This breakdown is illustrated below.

Workshop filtings have proved to be a seetar with a great deal of development potential.

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Structural rationalisation measures willlead to the ca- ordination of an iDereasing number of business areas

within and between the enterprises. The following are f

some of the fields within which ca-ordination and related measures were undertaken in 1982/83 or have been planned for 1983/84.

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Engineering 26%

Printing 9%

Sectorial breakdown of Group activities.

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INDOOR FURNITURE

The productian ofindoor furniture, rnaini y of solid deal, represents a major "tradition" within the Communal In- dustries Group. At present this product seetar accounts for some 16% of total Group tumover and invalves about 80 workshops within 20 of the regional enterprises.

The Group's share of total national furniture output is

The indoor fumiture business unit accounts for roughly 16% of Group manufacturing output.

between 4 and 5%, which is relatively modest. On the other hand we account for a much larger percentage of deal furniture production. lt is worth nating that sales of deal furniture are thought by various market observers to be levelling out or possibly dectining in Sweden.

Expressed in current prices, our deal furniture production has remained more or less unaltered in recent years which means that this type of productian has declined in relation to our total output of indoor furniture.

Pieceowork has accounted for some 60% of the Group's productian of indoor fumiture in recent years, and there is no cause to anticipate any appreciable change in this respect during 1983/84.

Exports of indoor fumiture (both piecework and under our own label), expressed in current prices, rose by about 40%, from SEK 40 million in 1981/82 to 56 million in 1982/83, and now constitute almost 25% of our total productian of indoor furniture.

The development of our indoor furniture output in recent years can be summansed as follows:

- A gradually rising proportion of materials other than deal, and a rising volume of exports both in absolute figures and in proportion to our total fumiture output.

LIGHTING

Group invoiced sales in 1982/83 totalled SEK 55 million, which is about 17% up on 1981/82. This increase was partly due to the growth of sales by Philips, IKEA, and other firms subcontracting us. The structural development process which has now begun has invalved co- ordinating marketing measures, concentrating product development and pooling purchases of components.

Lighting accounts for roughly 4% of Group manufacturing output.

GROUP REVIEW

Within the Group, individual enterprises have been put in charge of market relations with enstomers or groups of customers, Pileprodukter taking charge of indoor lighting. The corresponding responsibility for street and traffic lighting has been vested in Lumatic. The effects, i.e. build-up of competence within certain enterprises, are expected to pay off in 1983/84.

WORKSHOP FITTINGS

Sales of workshop fittings have increased through the ex- pansion of existing products and the addition of new ones.

Exports amount to some 10% of our own productian (or 7% of the manufactured value of this business area).

Forecasts indicate a relative increase in exports.

Twenty-five per cent of manufacturing value in this business area takes the form of subcontracted deliveries, mainly to two cmpanies.

Within this business area, the "ergonornie industrial workplace" su~-area has proved capable of development.

Workshop fittings account for roughly 3.5% . of Group manufacturing output.

New products and variants from this segment are constantly being added to the product range. Our own products have a considerable market share and if imports are disregarded, we are one of the targest campanies manufacturing and marketing workshop equipment in Sweden.

FILES

The Communal lndustries Group manufactures both wooden-backed and plastic files. Sales revenues totalled some SEK 24 million, the greater part being derived from wooden-backed files.

The total market for files in Sweden practically dou- bled during the 1970s and now stands atabout 10 million files annually. Demand has settled at this leve] and is ex-

Files account for roughly 2% of Group manufacturing output.

ceeded by national productian capacity. At the same time, imports are tending to increase. We have therefore concluded long-term agreements with three major enterprises in the office supplies seetar concerning the sale

THE CoMMUNAL

THE SWEDISH CoMMUNAL

INDUSTRIES GROUP

1982/83

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THE LABOUR MARKET

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SociAL CosTS

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CORPORATEDEVELOPMENT

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