Looking for someone to trim the hedge, repaint a room or spend time with an elderly grandparent? The Swedish temporary employment agency Veteranpoolen has contacts on its books of 11,000 retirees willing to work a few hours a week. The company, founded in 2007, calls them job bonus – combination of right“work”, and pensioner“retired”. All have officially retired, but are returning to work to supplement their income or keep busy.
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Ten hours of housework can earn around 6,000 crowns gross (around 520 euros) per month, with charges reduced to 10% and an income tax rate reduced to less than 8% after the age of 67. The law does not set any limits on income or working hours. It also allows you to continue receiving your pension while working.
Veteranpoolen, the market leader, is far from the only company of its kind in Sweden. There are plenty of offers online from temporary employment agencies targeting people over 66 – the age at which Swedes can draw their pension. The principle is generally the same: retirees register on the website of one of these companies, detail their skills and the activities they are willing to do, as well as their availability. They are then put in contact with individuals or companies looking for workers.
Revaluation of the minimum pension
On the homepage of Veterankraft, which boasts of being able to employ 5,000 temporary workers, the retirees in orange sweatshirts, tools in hand, exude joy and good health. Among them, in Malmö, Lisbeth Holmander, 77, visits two nonagenarians every other week, helping them with shopping and administrative procedures. She has also walked dogs, made inventory checks in second homes after tenants have moved out, packed nuts… All for 157 kroner gross per hour.
According to a survey conducted by Norstat for Veteranpoolen in the fall of 2023, 56% of Swedes aged 65 to 70 are already working or are willing to start; 45% spend one to ten hours a week. Half of them cite financial reasons. In 2020, 13% of pensioners lived below the relative poverty line (around 13,000 crowns per month). Four years later, this figure has fallen to just 7%, thanks in part to the increase in the minimum pension to cope with inflation.
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