Everywhere in Sweden, in the office and in the factories, the fika break is sacrosanct. We usually stop work around 9:30 a.m. and then take a coffee break with colleagues at 2:30 p.m. In some companies, these meetings take place more spontaneously. But in the end everyone stands in front of the coffee machine, with the acmé, the fredagsfika: the Friday coffee break, the time in which we linger longer and try pastries.
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But here it is: Fika has been in turmoil since the beginning of the year, after an article was published in the city workers' newspaper Kommunal arbetaren on January 3rd that revealed that in certain local governments coffee is now paid for. Worse, certain municipalities and regions would make distinctions between socio-professional categories. In the regions, 94% of civil servants are entitled to free coffee, compared to only 75% of nursing staff.
In some municipalities, employees have to fill out a questionnaire when they are hired: if they say they like coffee, their salary will automatically be reduced by a few dozen crowns (a few euros) each month. The Stockholm region went even further: Just before Christmas, healthcare workers learned that they would no longer be entitled to the equally traditional fruit basket that usually sits next to the washing machine. Coffee.
Painful restructuring
According to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, which published the information on January 11, the Ministry of Health's internal memo lists a list of products that are not considered “essential for the production of healthcare services” and are therefore no longer supported. In addition to the fruit basket, there is the Fikabröd (literally “fika bread,” which refers to the pastry that goes with coffee).
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These miserly savings highlight the disastrous economic situation of municipalities: In 2023, the 21 regions and a third of Sweden's 290 municipalities ended the year in the red, according to the municipal association SKL. However, an even worse result is expected for 2024, as the deficit will fall from 6 billion crowns to 31 billion (from 525 million to 2.71 billion euros). The cause: inflation and rising interest rates, but also an increase in needs, especially in the health sector or elderly care.
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In September 2023, the conservative Liberal government, backed by the far right, announced an additional 10 billion crowns to local authorities. But that will not be enough to prevent the announced painful restructuring of the public service. Schools across Sweden are suffering from tight budgets, while the large Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, which faces a deficit of 1.7 billion crowns between 2023 and 2024, estimates that it will lay off 2,000 of its 17,000 staff in the hope of a return must have a balanced budget.