Labour Market
Bold Nordic agreement without a political “father”
The common labour market is the jewel in the Nordic cooperation. It was established as early as 1954, three years before the five first member states of what would become the EU signed the Treaty of Rome.
Moving gave several identities
Gunnel M Helander came to Sweden with her family aged four in late summer 1954. She now lives in Hanko in Finland’s south-westernmost point and is a retired architect. She feels Nordic: Swedish, Finnish and Ålandish. Her removal van has made many trips between Sweden and Finland.
“Sweden was somewhere you could make money”
Early autumn 1954, and Gösta Helsing is 17, one of nine siblings living at home in a small village in Vörå in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. Post-war Finland is poor from paying reparations to Russia and there are few jobs. The small farm cannot sustain all nine siblings. Many neighbours, friends and relatives are moving to Sweden.
An interest in engines took him to Sweden - but it didn’t pay enough
Per Billington moved from Norway in 1984 to work at Volvo’s research department in Gothenburg for one and a half years. It shaped his entire career. This is where he learned ‘ordning och reda’ — Swedish ‘proper order’ — and he learned to love diesel engines.
Always Norwegian at heart
This August Norwegian badminton player Erik Rundle has lived in Denmark for longer than he lived in Norway, and he doubts he will ever return for more than holidays and to defend his badminton titles.
Longed for Icelandic nature — became head of an aluminium plant
When US aluminium giant Alcoa built a smelting plant in Iceland in the 2000s, Danish Janne Sigurðsson quit her job in Denmark and moved to Iceland. She was a stay-at-home mother for a while. Now she heads Alcoa’s largest aluminium smelting plant in Europe.
“Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?”
On 13 December 2010 Charlotte Lundell started working as Brand Manager at Orkla Confectionery & Snacks. The first thing she did when she got the job was to google: “Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?” At the time she was one of 80,000 Swedes working in Norway. In 2013 she is one of 90,000.
Robots can save jobs
Robots and increased automation can save many jobs from disappearing. At the same time many low paid jobs disappear when machines take over certain tasks. The NLJ looks at what the new technological revolution means.
New production methods could revolutionise entire industries
Norwegian Thinfilm has just developed a revolutionary technology, printing electronics straight onto a plastic film at their plant in Swedish Linköping. It makes it possible to develop intelligent labels which can tell whether a product is being stored at the right temperature, and much more.
Jobs are key to all Nordic countries’ integration policies
All of the Nordic countries are attractive targets for refugees and labour migrants alike. But there are major differences both between which groups arrive and how they are received. Finland and Iceland have always stood out, but now the differences are increasing at a faster rate also between Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
"Every Polish worker's dream is a steady job in Norway"
The sizeable immigration from former Eastern European countries to the Nordic countries - and to Norway in particular - calls for integration measures which also include labour migrants, say Norwegian researchers.
Positive prejudices benefit Icelandic immigrants
Being Icelandic can be an advantage if you're looking for somewhere to live and work in Norway. Icelanders themselves believe their historical roots in Norway are often the reason they’re well received by Norwegians. One anthropologist thinks Icelanders have an advantage over other immigrant groups in Norway.
Recommendations ready for new Danish employment policy
There will be major changes to measures aimed at unemployed people on benefit if the Danish government follows the recently published recommendations from the so-called Carsten Koch committee. A new employment policy is expected to be ready before the summer recess.
From vulnerable woman to professional knitter
Danish social entrepreneur Nina Brandi has successfully involved vulnerable women in her knitting business mormor.no which sells hand and machine knitted products to a global market.
Partnerships could create more jobs in Europe
Labour market measures and various types of training are not enough, no matter how good they are. Job creation is the crucial thing and it must happen through cooperation between the public and private sectors and civil society. These were some of the conclusions when labour market experts met at the annual Employment Forum in Brussels.
Second-hand bikes showing the way back to the labour market
Jasmina Smajić Šupuk from Slovenia was unemployed for two years but had a background from voluntary organisations like Amnesty International. When she could find no employer who would take her on, she decided to start her own business — finding other people jobs.
Do the statistics paint a true picture of youth unemployment?
There are considerable difference between the Nordic countries in their levels of youth unemployment and how long it lasts. But are some of the differences a result of the way in which statistics are gathered, and are Sweden and Finland really doing worse than any of the other countries in all aspects?
Elisabeth Svantesson is Sweden’s new Minister for Employment
On 17 September Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt appointed Elisabeth Svantesson as his new Minister for Employment. She replaces Hillevi Engström who became Minister for International Development Cooperation. The reshuffle was announced during the Prime Minister’s government declaration.
Labour market education: a pathway to work? More knowledge is needed
Labour market education was the hot topic for the discussion between employment ministers and the social partners at the Nordic Minister meeting in Övertorneå on 27. august. The debate unveiled large differences between the Nordic countries, and a lack of knowledge about the efficiency of such measures. A new Nordic initiative aims to give a nuanced insight into systems and the way they operate.
Successful vocational training for long-term unemployed in the Arctic
The Arctic Vocational Foundation is a joint Nordic institution providing individualised training within more than 30 vocations to unemployed Finns, Swedes and Norwegians. This, is where Sweden’s Minister for Employment Hillevi Engström invited her Nordic colleagues and working life representatives to consultations. What makes this training so special?
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