Youth — Nordic Labour Journal

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.

A Nordic helping hand to marginalised youths

(Apr 15, 2015) A large group of youths are not in education, employment or training - so-called NEETs. There is increased focus across Europe on ways to prevent this group of young people from permanently falling outside of the labour market. The Nordic countries have good experiences with finding, motivating and preparing these youths for work.

An eye for the individual

(Apr 15, 2015) How do you help young people who are loosing their footing as they enter adulthood? How do you motivate youths who are not in education, employment or training find the right track to their future? These were key questions when the Nordic countries recently discussed how to fight youth unemployment.

Building bridges to education helps youths move forward

(Apr 15, 2015) Denmark has had success supporting marginalised youths to make sure they get an education. Mentor support, teaching and help finding apprenticeships makes the difficult transition into studies and work easier.

A bridge to education across Denmark

(Apr 15, 2015) The Danish project of building bridges to education for marginalised youths has proved so promising that it is now being rolled out across the whole of Denmark on a permanent basis.

Motivation key to get marginalised youths into education

(Apr 15, 2015) Measures aimed at helping young people into jobs and education should support the youths’ own inner motivation. To do that you need to realise that young, marginalised people are very different from each other, says a Danish youth researcher and author of a new book on motivation.

New concept at Sweden’s employment service gains young people’s trust

(Apr 15, 2015) Good treatment and rapid measures targeted at the needs of young unemployed people, good coordination between municipalities and the public employment service — a proven way of achieving progress. The concept was developed in the project ‘Unga in’ and is carried forward in UNGKOMP.

Iceland’s Starfatorgið: 50 percent found jobs or started studying

(Apr 15, 2015) The financial crisis was tough on young Icelanders. Many were unemployed for so long that they no longer qualified for unemployment benefit, only welfare money. Between 2012 and 2014 they were sent to Starfatorgið (‘the labour exchange’). Over half of the young people participating in Starfatorgið got a job or started studying.

Estonians are returning home

(Apr 15, 2015) The Baltic states are loosing active citizens fast, but in Estonia the authorities have started counting them back in.

Finland: Unemployed youths get more attention

(Mar 19, 2015) Finland’s youth guarantee means young people have become a higher priority within the public sector.

The Nordics: Failing reforms exclude youths with disabilities

(Mar 06, 2015) 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’.

I follow safety instructions — they didn’t make them as a joke

(Nov 12, 2014) For Mathias Larsen and many other young Danes, a supermarket job is their first step into working life and their first meeting with work environment challenges — of which young people get more than their fair share.

A guarantee for the future?

(Oct 15, 2014) There are fewer young people outside education, employment or training in Denmark than in Sweden. Why do the Danes succeed? While all of Europe is learning from the Finnish youth guarantee, the Nordic Labour Journal has spoken to Nordic youths about their experiences, and examined how countries succeed with their measures. Central to them all are vocational educations, apprenticeships and internships.

Fewer youths equals more jobs?

(Oct 15, 2014) As the workforce ages and the number of young people of working age falls, their chance of finding a job increases. But it is still too early for politicians to sit back and relax. Powerful measures are needed to fight youth unemployment. One solution is to create more apprenticeships.

Youth guarantee rolls out across the EU

(Oct 15, 2014) Finland and Austria are in the vanguard when the EU is developing new ways of supporting young people at risk of becoming unemployed. Finland’s youth guarantee means everyone will get a job, internship or training within three months, and the country’s long-term youth unemployment is the lowest in all of the EU.

Finnish forest industry keen on apprenticeships

(Oct 15, 2014) An increasing number of young people find work in Finnish industry via apprenticeships. In recent years the forest industry has traded in its own traditional training schemes with other kinds of education — and the programmes are popular.

Denmark strengthens vocational education

(Oct 15, 2014) Few young Danes are outside of the labour market. Improved vocational education should get even more of them into training and jobs.

Norwegian employers’ organisation Virke: more apprentices please

(Oct 15, 2014) It is hard to find a better role model for apprentices than Henrik Tanum. He is full of enthusiasm and drive. Right now he is also the face of the Norwegian employers’ organisation Virke, as he is learning the job as their receptionist.