Sustainable Work Environment — Nordic Labour Journal

Are the Nordic welfare states prepared for crises?

(Nov 16, 2016) Do the Nordics spend too little money on Nordic welfare? Yes, believes Iceland’s Minister for Nordic Cooperation Eygló Harðardóttir. She sees great opportunities for more welfare cooperation, and supports a proposed Nordic welfare forum and a system for common welfare indicators, to be better prepared for future crises.

Why are working life researchers so reluctant to talk about the future?

(Oct 23, 2015) This summer Ann Bergman really managed to ignite the debate on working life research. In an article in the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies she asked why working life researchers are so uninterested in the future.

Do we have a true image of the new working life?

(Oct 23, 2015) For many years there has been talk about the new working life, where work is more about doing something meaningful than about making money. But are we really seeing the emergence of a new type of independent worker who feels collective agreements and permanent contracts are nothing but obstacles?

Women could determine the Nordic model’s future

(Dec 12, 2014) A high employment rate for women is crucial to the future of the Nordic model. This was the main message from the OECD’s Mark Pearson as the report ‘The Nordic Model – challenged but capable of reform’, was being discussed at the meeting of Nordic labour ministers.

Social scientists must guide us out of the crisis

(Oct 15, 2014) "There is a fire of resentment burning across Europe, and there’s an urgent need to calm tensions. Social scientists need to get involved. Dogmatic economists have been allowed to dominate the debate for too long," says Maurizio Ferrera, Professor at the University of Milan.

More sick leave among ‘double-shift’ women than men

(Nov 07, 2013) When a woman has her second child while holding down an equally demanding job as the father, she is at twice the risk of going off sick compared to her husband, according to a new report on sick leave among women, presented in Sweden on 5 November.

How about a personal trainer - for your brain?

(Apr 15, 2012) The Nordic Labour Journal can now add another job to the list of new occupations: ‘personal brainer’. The title holder is Finnish Reidar Wasenius. He recently made a 20 years old dream come true and opened a training centre for brains - BRIIM Center - in Helsinki.

Minister of Labour Lauri Ihalainen: Improved competence will safeguard Finland’s future

(Nov 11, 2011) Finland’s new government has ambitious goals for improving people’s level of competence. Finns will handle structural changes and future challenges better through improved education and adult training.

Finland's next government will make people work longer

(Mar 07, 2011) Recent year's attempts to increase Finland's pension age from 63 to 65 have slowly gained momentum. The actual pension age has increased following the 2004 pension reform and now stands just over 60.4 years. The number 65 has turned into a hot political potato.

Working hours: a hot topic for the Labour Inspection Authority director

(Feb 11, 2011) Ingrid Finboe Svendsen's dream is to create a popular drive for a better work environment. The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority has often been in the spotlight for dealing with cases of social dumbing, but the Authority's director wants to showcase the full scope of what the organisation does. And this is where Facebook comes in.

Hillevi Engström: more social responsibility needed in working life

(Nov 24, 2010) Once the leading star of Swedish Police, Hillevi Engström is now in charge of whipping working life into line. She wants to use her role as Minister for Employment to challenge businesses to take social responsibility. In return she offers economical incentives and an improved education system.

Nordic measures for sustainable working life

(May 07, 2010) In the last analysis, the great challenge for the Nordics is the survival of the welfare state. To meet this challenge, more people must be in work, and they must work for longer than before.

Not only green, but good

(Oct 26, 2009) The Nordic countries and their companies will try to present themselves as environmentally friendly as possible during the Copenhagen Climate Summit. But what does it mean to be green? As huge investments are made in renewable energy, it’s important that other values are not sacrificed.

Copenhagen turning green

(Oct 26, 2009) Copenhagen is aiming to turn into a green capital for business ahead of the UN climate change conference it will host in December.

Finland hopes for green jobs too

(Oct 26, 2009) Finland has long made a living from its "green gold" - the forests - even though its pulp mills and paper production plants hardly can be called environmentally friendly.

Tomra – safe and green

(Oct 26, 2009) The global production of bottles, cans and other drink containers tops 800 billion. Half of them end up on landfills. Recycling all this would save large amounts of energy, and cut CO2 emissions.

Work place health promotion - a double-edged sword

(Oct 26, 2009) Pedometers, weight clubs, gym memberships - more and more companies invest in their employees' health. For most the results are good. But work place health promotion can also create second-class workers, according to a new study from Umeå Universitet.

Theme: Not only green, but good

(Oct 24, 2009) What does it mean to be green? As huge investments are made in renewable energies, other values may be sacrificed. Nordic Labour Journal has visited some green companies in the Nordic region. One of them, Tomra, makes reverse vending machines that collects three percent of the 700 billion drinks containers in the world. That means a cut in CO2 emissions equal to 15 percent of Norway's total annual emissions.

Norwegian Point Carbon has its finger on the pulse of emission trading

(Oct 24, 2009) A smiling Barack Obama adorns Per Otto Wold's office coffee mug. Mr Wold is CEO at Point Carbon, a Norwegian provider of news, analysis and consulting services for the global power, gas and carbon markets. President Obama doesn't sit on his desktop by chance. The American President is on everybody's mind here.

Positive factors at work – a new perspective

(Aug 01, 2009) What makes workers happy and content, and what keeps organisations healthy and productive? What makes workers resilient and good at adapting when more and more is demanded of them in an ever changing environment?