In Focus
New challenges for work environments as technology and humans come together
The work environment of the future will be here sooner than we think, and it will be different from the one labour inspection authorities have been monitoring until now. A new Nordic report considers some threats that look like science fiction. Others are already a reality for many workers, yet we know little about these threats’ long-term effects.
Video conferences – from added bonus to necessity
You need more than Zoom or Teams. That has become obvious to many businesses as the pandemic has forced most meetings online. As people are getting used to the technology, newly gained experience becomes useful knowledge.
Extra power with robot gloves
The Stockholm-based company Bioservo marries medical research with new technology with their robot glove. It gives extra muscle power to people with reduced hand function and for those whose jobs put a strain on their hands. This summer they won NASA’s invention award.
Danish state pension reform aims to help worn-out workers
The Danish government believes people should have the right to retire early on a state pension if they have been working since they were teenagers. Trade unions are rejoicing while employers and others have their doubts.
I will work for as long as possible
64-year-old Jan Hansen has been working since he started out as an apprentice for a carpenter at 17. He has been through a knee operation and is waiting for another one, but does not long for the day he retires.
I should have retrained
60-year-old Lone Høgh has been on painkillers for years in order to handle her physically demanding agricultural job. She has now retired in order to enjoy her time with her husband and dog.
Finnish employers signal backtracking on wage agreements
Not all businesses can afford to pay the agreed wage increases in Finland, warns the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries. Yet the trade unions will not tear up any collective agreements. The corona crisis rises many questions for Finnish labour market politics. Some say Finland’s competitiveness could be under threat. Employers argue the Prime Minister’s vision for six-hour days makes matters worse.
Collective bargaining with face masks
Nordic employers and trade unions have spent spring and summer in collective bargaining efforts, except in Sweden where negotiations have been postponed until 1 October because of the corona pandemic. How has sharply rising unemployment impacted on the process? Will certain groups, who have been working even harder during the crisis, get their reward?
Hot spring and summer for Iceland’s collective bargaining
Iceland’s newly appointed state mediator Aðalsteinn Leifsson had no easy task when he started work on 1 April 2020. The corona pandemic had a brutal effect on Iceland’s economy. Challenging mediating tasks included wage negotiations for cabin crew, nurses and upper secondary school teachers.
The Öresund Bridge is 20, and gets a sub-sea equivalent
The bridge linking two Nordic countries is 20 years old this summer. The link has been important for the Öresund region’s development. It is also important for the massive project of securing a permanent link between Zealand and Germany.
"Like a Berlin Wall between Haparanda and Tornio"
When the border between Finland and Sweden closed, the entire common market for the whole of Tornedalen disappeared – goods, services, labour and culture. The hospitality and retail sectors are seriously affected. Those who have been furloughed or served notices are starting to fall into unemployment.
Closed borders trigger unemployment in Sweden
Sweden’s biggest cities have been the worst hit by the pandemic, and in particular Stockholm. Infection rates have remained low in Sweden's border areas, but municipalities there are struggling economically because the borders have closed.
Faroe Islands: Old recipes and new crises
An economic crisis from 1992, a salmon test from 2000 and an idea for a restaurant from 2013. These are some of the ingredients in the Faroese recipe for how the island society in the North Atlantic and its 52,000 inhabitants would come out out of the Corona crisis better than anyone. So far it has been a rather good recipe.
Iceland reopens tourism – carefully
Iceland is beginning to open up for tourism after the severe effects of Covid-19 this spring. The virus meant most of the tourism industry had no customers and many companies had to close down. Today, most have reopened and try to attract domestic travellers while waiting for foreign tourists to return to Iceland.
Schleswig-Holstein – from conflict to peaceful border commute
Some 15,000 people commute to jobs across the border between Denmark and Germany, which is 100 years old this year. That makes the border region one joint labour market, yet one with widely differing legislation and workplace cultures on either side.
The Nordics must pull together to emerge from the epidemic
The Nordic countries will take historically huge steps to limit the economic and social consequences of the Corona epidemic. The governments sometimes chose different measures to fight contamination, with different economic consequences. To get out of the crisis, greater cooperation is needed.
Pandemic stresses already pushed Swedish employment service
As a result of the Corona pandemic, unemployed people are streaming to the Swedish Public Employment Service. This is putting pressure on an already strained organisation, which has cut 3,500 jobs since the spring of 2019.
The dancer who spreads joy with a new cultural phenomenon
A stop to public performances gave choreographer Yaniv Cohen (42) the idea for Flekk. A faceless creature giving work to furloughed dancers and birthday fun to children.
National decisions have major consequences for border regions
Activate the networks, develop the dialogues, identify the updates. These are necessary and urgent tasks for the Nordic border region information services, thrown up by the corona crisis. Öresunddirekt in Malmö remains closed to visitors. Behind doors, there is plenty of action.
The Öresund cooperation was set to expand – then corona hit
Billions of kroner. That is the estimated annual benefit for Denmark and Sweden resulting from a fully integrated labour market across Öresund. Nine focus areas have been identified and presented, ready for action as soon as the corona crisis ends.
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