I have worked five years at Svensk Direktreklam. Foreign students and individuals on spouse visas in Sweden often face an uphill battle finding employment. Many are eager to work and earn a modest living. Unfortunately, Svensk Direkt Reklam (SDR) appears to be taking advantage of this vulnerability by employing them under poor conditions for sorting and distributing advertising material (“reklam”) across Sweden.
Take Umeå and Luleå as examples. Sorting staff are tasked with handling thousands of papers every week, yet they are paid less than 60 SEK per hour—well below fair market rates. When workers raise concerns about low pay, managers reportedly dismiss them outright, telling them to quit, and then hire replacements at even lower wages. After repeated protests about working conditions, SDR chose to automate the sorting process and terminated all sorters without any notice period or severance.
For distributors, conditions are equally harsh. They are required to deliver reklam in extreme weather—conditions that have led to accidents. Victims have allegedly received no compensation. Most distributors work over 50 hours weekly but remain underpaid. Complaints are met with threats to “quit if you don’t like it.”
Recently, four distributors spoke up. Instead of addressing their concerns, the company reportedly slashed their pay while demanding the same workload. With no escalation process, employees have nowhere to turn. Senior management, including the VD and HR head, allegedly ignore calls and emails. Since SDR has not signed a collective agreement with Unionen, the union has refused to intervene.
In Umeå, the local manager is described as exploitative, manipulative, and punitive toward anyone who questions his methods. Over the past four years, more than 100 young workers—mostly students—have come and gone, with no resolution or justice for those who endured the same mistreatment.
This pattern suggests a systemic issue in how SDR treats its most vulnerable workers, raising serious questions about labor rights violations in Sweden’s advertising distribution sector.
