Labour Market
What happens when the refugee stream has been stemmed?
“It’s like on a plane when the oxygen masks have been activated. When you’re told to put on your own mask before helping people sitting next to you. If we are to help the world, we must look after our own country first,” says Jøran Kallmyr, State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
Researcher: ”Lowering the minimum wage creates a new underclass”
There is agreement on one thing when it comes to refugees — the many newly arrived must be integrated into their new societies. They need accommodation, language skills and jobs. The Nordic cooperation could do with sharing experiences for how to achieve that.
Entrepreneurs with a clear message about refugees
Finland has been caught unprepared by a flow of refugees the size of which the country has not experienced since World War II and the evacuation of Finnish Karelia. Many private individuals have been willing to help look after the new arrivals by offering food, clothes and accommodation. And now entrepreneurs are starting to turn up at refugee centres.
Marginalised youths on the labour ministers’ agenda
“No youths should be left to their own devices for longer periods of time,” Danish Noemi Katznelson told Nordic labour ministers when she presented her latest research in Copenhagen recently. Marginalised youths and work were the themes for discussion between the ministers and the social partners, with a focus on preventative measures against unemployment.
Refugees leaving their mark
“I don’t believe anyone in any government office fails to think about refugees,” says the new Director for the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) Sigrun Vågeng in the Portrait. The numbers arriving to the Nordics have broken all predictions and colour societies and their public debate.
Norway: Government to strengthen measures aimed at youths
Unemployment is growing in Norway, especially among young people. The government’s 2016 budget proposal includes a youth package aimed at preventing more young people from falling outside of education and working life.
OECD: Big increase in number of foreign born doctors and nurses
Over the past ten years the number of nurses and doctors who have moved to one of the 38 OECD countries has risen by 60 percent. The number of foreign born doctors now makes up nearly one third of all doctors in Sweden and one in four doctors in Norway.
New Danish government: A new and challenging course for Danish labour market politics
Denmark’s new centre-right government faces the hard task of reforming the country’s unemployment benefit model.
Former EU Commissioner Poul Nielson: The Nordic region plays a role
“The Nordic region is not an island in the global society. If we want to protect what we care about and make sure we are not overrun by the values of others, we need to enter that fight,” Poul Nielson tells the Nordic Labour Journal.
Labour market and gender: tough challenges for Finland’s new government
Negotiations to form a new government in Finland are over and the new government ministers in the three party coalition are ready to start the job of lifting the country out of the economic crisis. For the past ten years there has been plenty of political activity but the results have not materialised. Labour market reform is one of the most difficult issues.
Nordics: Surprisingly many struggle with literacy and numeracy
The challenge facing politicians is helping two million adults who lack the necessary skills for working and social life to secure a chance to develop, says Anders Rosdahl. He is a senior research fellow at the Danish National Centre for Social Research, and the Danish representative in the network which has just presented the Nordic PIAAC report.
New comparative Nordic research measures adult competencies
For the first time ever there is a Nordic version of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, PIAAC. PIAAC was first published in 2013. The survey comprises comparative data from 24 countries.
Experts propose a more labour targeted and user friendly NAV
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.’
Finland: Unemployed youths get more attention
Finland’s youth guarantee means young people have become a higher priority within the public sector.
The Nordics: Failing reforms exclude youths with disabilities
More flexibility does not lead to a more inclusive labour market. Political reforms carried out in the Nordic region in the first decade of the millennium do not have any measurable effects either, concludes the Nordic research group behind the report ‘New Policies to Promote Youth Inclusion’.
Anda Uldum: The man with the key to the national coffers and the mines
Greenland’s new Minister of Finance and Raw Materials, Anda Uldum, is facing a giant challenge.
The minimum wage — threat or opportunity?
Stop worrying and join the debate about a legally binding minimum wage across the EU. That’s the bombshell from Bente Sorgenfrey, the new President for the Council of Nordic Trade Unions, NFS. Is fear for the debate the real problem, or is a statutory minimum wage a real threat to the Nordic model? The Nordic Labour Journal kicks off the debate in this month’s theme.
Swedish Transport Union: minimum wage could stop social dumping
There is strong opposition to a statutory minimum wage in Sweden. But the parties in the transport trade have started talking about making collective agreements universally applicable. The reason: pay cuts and social dumping resulting from the freedom of movement.
Only far left wants minimum wage in Finland
Finland is one of the Nordic countries which has not had a public debate about a minimum wage. The Left Alliance (VF), which is the party furthest to the left in Finland, is the only political party which has called for a statutory minimum wage. In April’s general elections the party’s manifesto will also include a promised minimum hourly wage of €10 — around €1,600 a month.
Denmark: more refugees and immigrants into work
Far too few refugees and immigrants in Denmark are in work, and there is broad agreement something needs to be done about it. Yet there is little support for the Prime Minister’s proposal to get refugees and immigrants to clean up Denmark’s beaches and fix swings in kindergartens.
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