Labour Market
Sudden growth creates problems for Icelandic tourism
Icelandic tourism has bounced back faster than expected. The head of the travel industry likens it to champagne flowing when the cork has popped. Thanks to government support most of the tourist companies survived.
Labour market policies a challenge for Swedish government negotiations
Labour market issues were overshadowed by crime, high energy prices and immigration in the run-up to the Swedish election. As the centre-right block tries to negotiate a government platform supported by the Sweden Democrats, unemployment and public health insurance might be among the political chess pieces.
Norway’s labour shortages stretch to “the furthest island”
The lack of qualified labour has become a major problem in many places in the Nordics. In the Norwegian county of Trøndelag unemployment has never been lower. This can also be felt on Frøya, an island of some 5,000 people.
Trailblazing development of green steel in Swedish Boden
Mass production of fossil-free steel is to be the arrowhead of the green transition in Northern Sweden. The initiative aims to mitigate climate change and meet the world’s needs for sustainability. With it come many new jobs and a need for new housing.
Image of macho Northern Swedish man must go to secure recruitment
A gun on his back, snus tobacco under his lip and a misogynistic worldview, he drives around on his scooter. This image of the primitive Norrlänning – a person from Sweden’s northernmost county – became ingrained with the 1996 movie The Hunters. Now Northern Sweden is hunting for people to carry out the so-called green revolution, and that image has to go.
The train to Russia stopped running. Lappeenranta limps on.
The borderless Nordic region turned out to be an illusion during the pandemic. It hit the Øresund region, border trade between Sweden and Norway and the citizens of Haparanda and Tornio. But Finland has an eastern border where traffic has ceased because of the pandemic. Today the war in Ukraine has made the situation even worse for Lappeenranta – the city with the closest links with Russia.
Varða in Iceland: a bridge between trade unions and academics
Iceland's labour market research institute Varða was set up in February 2020 by The Icelandic Confederation of Labour ASÍ and the Confederation of State and Municipal Employees BSRB. The purpose was to strengthen social and economic labour market research and bridge the gap between academics and the labour market.
Sweden: most casual jobs and lowest work protection
Sweden has the highest unemployment levels among the Nordics, and also more casual jobs and lower employment protection levels for those on temporary contracts. An award-winning dissertation shows the consequences deregulation has had for people without permanent employment.
Will Greenland get the mining adventure off the ground?
Greenland is about to introduce a range of reforms aimed at creating a well-functioning labour market and a stable framework for foreign investments in industries like mining.
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson: Planned to be a sheep farmer, now Iceland's labour minister
A new government in Iceland was announced on 28 November, over two months after the parliamentary elections. The new labour minister is Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson from the Left-Green Movement.
Hadia Tajik, a trade union-supporting labour minister
Hadia Tajik, Norway's new Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion, is a strong defender of trade unions. She will be responsible for what the red-green coalition government calls a spring clean of the labour market.
New Swedish delegation to fight work-related crime
On 27 September, the Swedish government took another step in the fight against work-related crime when it presented a delegation tasked with increasing knowledge about the issue while supporting the authorities working to stop it.
Labour shortages all around, including in the Danish film industry
It is hard to find tradespeople who have time for new projects and the Danish film industry is short of everything from actors to scriptwriters. Businesses are asking the government for more foreign labour.
Why Iceland's wage increase outstrips the rest of Europe
In August, Iceland's monthly wage index increased by 0.3%. The index had then risen by 7.9% in the last 12 months, which is more than in most other European countries. The increase from the first to the second quarter of this year was 8.1%, the third-highest in Europe.
Norway's interpreter costs rise, yet interpreters are underused
The cost of interpreter services in the public sector has risen sharply in Norway. In 2019 the total cost was 843 million kroner (€85.3m). In six years interpreter costs have gone up by 72%. But not using qualified interpreters at all can quickly become even more costly. New interpreter legislation could improve the situation.
Nordic model well suited for future of work challenges
Nordic labour ministers met digitally on 2 June to discuss the final report from the Nordic research project on the future of work. It warns of challenges to the Nordic model, but also concludes it is the best tool in the fight against an unequal labour market.
The many languages of working life
In this edition, we look at work from several different points of view. But in reality, it all comes down to the same thing. Work gives us an identity and experiences we would not have otherwise. That is why we are vulnerable when our professional roles are under attack. Or if we never get the chance to work.
The Intensive Year: 12 months to find jobs for Swedish immigrants
The Helsingborg employment service got ready as soon as the government announced its decision, and was prepared when the Intensive Year was launched on 15 April this year. One month later, 40 job seekers have been contacted. One of them is Mehmet.
Greenland chooses new government in protest against controversial mining
Greenland’s natural resource fairytale must not come at the expense of Greenlanders’ health, welfare and job opportunities. That was the clear signal from voters as they went to the polls to on 6 April 2021 and got a new coalition government.
How have the Nordics managed the Corona crisis so far?
The Nordic countries have dealt with the economic crisis caused by the Corona pandemic in similar ways. As a result, unemployment is now falling back to more normal levels. A report from the Danish Technological Institute on commission from the Nordic Council of Ministers argues it is time to adjust the support measures.
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