On Wednesday, an angry crowd of job-seekers was dispersed by police outside an employment office in Stockholm after a mistaken call went out to 61,000 individuals for a recruitment meeting.
“Something has gone wrong with the mailing list…it has set off a very messy situation at the city office,” commented Clas Olsson, acting director of the employment office.
An email meant for approximately 1,000 job-seekers mistakenly reached a much larger audience, with around 61,000 registered job seekers in Stockholm receiving it, according to police.
As hundreds of individuals anticipated participation, they packed the alley where the labor office is situated and overflowed into the nearby street, a major thoroughfare in downtown Stockholm.
Tensions escalated, prompting office staff to trigger the alarm, which called police to the location.
“When we arrived, the area was very congested and there were some distressed feelings,” stated Police Inspector Ulf Lindgren.
Olsson expressed to the media that he was uncertain whether the incident resulted from a human or technical mistake.
As of January, Sweden’s total unemployment rate was reported at 8.6 percent.
