Mid Sweden University

This study investigates how the ideal employee is discursively constructed in the employer report “Kompetens - var god dröj”, published by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. Drawing on Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory and using critical discourse analysis as the methodological framework, the thesis examines how normative ideals of employability and individual responsibility are articulated through the report's language. Zygmunt Bauman's theory of liquid modernity, particularly the concepts of individualization and identity as a project, serves as the theoretical lens for interpreting the analysis. The study identifies a discursive pattern that positions the employee as an ambitious, adaptable, and constantly self-improving subject, while structural conditions and employer responsibility are largely downplayed or omitted. These constructions reproduce a neoliberal ideal of employability, in which the individual is expected to continuously manage and optimize their personal brand. The analysis highlights how language shapes norms in contemporary working life and contributes to a sociological understanding of how employability is framed within institutional discourse.