Employment Offices — Nordic Labour Journal

Nothing is sacred in the debate about the Swedish model

(Nov 15, 2018) The current Swedish collective agreement does not run out until 2020. That should normally mean a period of calm for the Swedish labour market. But the debate is raging: Big changes to the labour market could be just around the corner, depending on who ends up forming a government.

A new attitude to who might participate in the labour market?

(Oct 16, 2018) “Nothing is harder than giving up what does not work.” That was the message from Norway’s welfare administration director Sigrun Vågeng as she opened the largest Nordic conference on Supported Employment so far in Oslo. Is this a sign of a paradigm shift?

The Nordics implement Supported Employment in very different ways

(Oct 16, 2018) The Nordic countries use Supported Employment for getting vulnerable groups into the labour market in very different ways. A growing number of studies show the method gives better results than traditional measures.

Digitalisation gives job centres new tasks and opportunities

(May 28, 2018) Artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technology can tighten the quality for Nordic job centres, but also represents new challenges for authorities – including data safety.

Google wants to enter the Nordic labour market

(May 28, 2018) Optimism clearly trumped pessimism at the Nordic conference on the Future of Work in Stockholm in the middle of May. Companies, politicians and trade unions mainly praised the digital future.

Newly arrived immigrant women – more than a labour market project?

(Apr 19, 2018) 682,948 non-western immigrants arrived in the Nordic region between 2010 and 2015. The aim is to integrate as many of them as possible into the labour market. The challenge is greatest for female refugees, who often face discrimination in their native countries and again risk being discriminated against in their new home country.

Finnish critics: Unemployed punished for inactivity – regardless of their situation

(Apr 19, 2018) Finland’s activation model for unemployed people was meant to do just that – activate the unemployed. Yet results remain elusive. All unemployed people are critical to the model, say those the NLJ has spoken to.

Job prize to get more Danish long term unemployed into work

(Feb 02, 2017) A cash prize awaits Danes who get a job after a long time on unemployment benefits. Long term unemployment benefit receivers are also given help to find casual jobs. Yet one expert questions whether the economic incentive is large enough.

Refugees as labour market resource – can Norway learn from Sweden?

(Dec 15, 2016) There is an important Nordic debate on how to integrate refugees faster and better into the labour market. At the Nordic ministers’ meeting in Helsinki, the exchange of experiences and new policies inspired discussions and new ways of thinking.

Roskilde municipality thinks new to get refugees faster into jobs

(Dec 15, 2016) Getting newly arrived refugees quickly into work is a high priority with Roskilde municipality. Experience shows that early and employment-focused activation helps all parties.

Danish businesses to train refugees for jobs

(Apr 18, 2016) Less than one in three refugees in Denmark finds work after three years. Now the government and the social partners want to change this by introducing a two year integration education programme in the workplace.

Finland: Social Impact Bonds to help refugees

(Dec 07, 2015) Finland launches a social innovation programme allowing private investors to finance measures to improve the integration of refugees. They will be able to profit from solutions which helps solve problems for the public sector.

Many different experiences await Nordjobb participants

(Jun 22, 2015) Young people travel across the Nordic region to work with tourists, weed spinach fields and public parks or pack prawns in Greenland — all thanks to Nordjobb. And the experiences are all unique.

Busy days when Nordjobb people flocked to Norway in the 80s

(Jun 22, 2015) “Wow! Has it already been 30 years since Nordjobb started up!” Eva Jakobson Vaagland, the first Nordjobb project leader in Norway, is surprised when we call her.

Loa Brynjulfsdottir: The Nordic region is my home country

(Jun 22, 2015) As soon as Loa Brynjulfsdottir was old enough, she applied for a job through Nordjobb. That was in 1990 and the start of many years working through Nordjobb and a strong feeling of Nordic belonging.

Experts propose a more labour targeted and user friendly NAV

(Apr 15, 2015) One year has passed since Norway’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Robert Eriksson appointed the Expert group tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review of the Labour and Welfare Administration NAV under the motto ‘From bureaucratic reform to user reform’. Now the report is ready: ‘A NAV with possibilities.’

"LinkedIn can complement the employment service"

(Feb 07, 2015) “We must improve matching in the labour market, and the employment service needs help from other players to do this. LinkedIn could play an important role in a well functioning labour market,” says Sweden’s Minister for Employment, Ylva Johansson.

Mikael Sjöberg: rebuilding trust in the Public Employment Service

(Sep 11, 2014) Mikael Sjöberg again leads one of Sweden’s most important working life institutions. His challenge is to build trust in the Public Employment Service, which has come in for a lot of criticism.

Mikael Sjöberg new head of the Swedish Public Employment Service

(Mar 03, 2014) The Swedish Public Employment Service has a new Director-General. Mikael Sjöberg comes from the post as Director-General at the Swedish Work Environment Authority. The Employment Service’s former head was fired in August last year.

Fresh thinking is crucial

(Dec 11, 2013) At the Employment Forum in Brussels, a labour life conference with participants from across Europe, one message was repeated over and over: no matter how much you give unemployed people training, nothing happens unless you create jobs. But how? Fresh thinking is crucial.