In Focus
Ole Jacob Sunde: the important thing is the media - not whether news is printed on paper
“The most important thing is to have good platforms and sources of information where you find important and relevant news and stories presented with integrity. Which medium is being used is less important in the long run. We should make use of technology,” says Ole Jacob Sunde, chairman both at Schibsted and the Tinius Trust.
Culture increasingly important for employment
Culture plays an increasingly important role in employment. Cultural and creative trades employ five million people in Europe and represent 3.3 percent of the total EU economy.
One in four Icelanders in creative jobs
The culture, entertainment and experience industry is increasingly important in Iceland. The country’s single most important cultural industry is music.
Culture helps handle the darker sides of working life
There are great hopes that creativity will give businesses the competitive edge, but amateurish attempts at introducing culture into working life do not help, say Finnish pioneers on culture in businesses.
Board game injects creativity into medical technicians
There is growing interest in the way industrial designers work, and design ideas are entering into more and more areas. The ability to create processes, focus on customers and to think outside the box fuels the interest among big and small companies.
Art is always ahead but lacks a centre
All architects who are drawing culture houses share a secret dream of creating a new Sydney Opera House, a landmark which can draw people from around the world. Renzo Piano is one of the few who have actually done it.
Can culture turn the downturn around?
The role culture plays in creating jobs has become even more important. Both within the EU and in the Nordic region there is talk of culture being a creative catalyst which can help create competitiveness and employment in the wider economy.
Challenges to welfare state at top of ministers’ in tray
Youth unemployment has high political priority in the Nordic region. At the latest Nordic Council of Ministers meeting, labour ministers agreed to encourage employers to take on some of the responsibility for young people who don’t work and who are not in education.
Finland’s comprehensive social guarantee for young people
The Finnish government is rolling out a comprehensive programme aimed at young people. The social guarantee aims to offer all under-25s and all newly educated under-30s a job, study place, apprenticeship or rehabilitation within three months of the young person becoming unemployed.
Catapulted into work?
A youth project in Åland called Catapult is aiming to integrate unemployed youths into the labour market. The name might sound a bit more dramatic than what actually faces its target group of 16 to 24 year olds. But it does say something about Nordic politicians’ expectations.
Swedish youths’ first job in Norway
Anyone moving to another Nordic country must have some money - the first pay check doesn’t come immediately, but the living costs do. In Norway you normally have to pay a three months’ deposit on top of the first month’s rent - enough to stop many young people in their tracks.
Nordic report: ‘Youth on the edge’ the greatest problem
Nordic youth unemployment figures between 10 and 25 percent are bad enough. Even more alarming is the fact that 5 to 10 percent of Nordic 15 to 24 year olds are not in education, work or training. This problem has risen during the latest economic crisis.
Denmark’s rapidly growing youth unemployment must come down
Unemployment among young Danes has trebled in four years, and the government promises action despite an initial breakdown in negotiations between the social partners on a youth initiative.
Life after Nokia also means new opportunities
Thousands of Nokia’s former employees have been forced to rethink their futures as the company sheds jobs. In Finland many of them hope to start their own business.
Everybody wants and app - but what for?
“Mobile telephone apps mean new ways of working as we’ll be able to access systems from anywhere and companies will start using mobiles more and more as a tool,” says Elin Lundström, managing director at app developer and IT company Decuria in Stockholm.
The IT revolution’s third wave
The development of smartphones is changing many people’s lives. Yet universal online access is only one part of the new IT revolution which will also have a big impact on working life. Smartphones and tablets became really powerful tools when Apple allowed anyone to develop the apps these devices run.
Home address stops Valgerður’s maternity pay
An Icelandic woman who lives in Iceland but works for an Oslo-based business experienced the cross border commuter’s nightmare. Despite contributing to Norway’s national insurance fund since 2003, she receives no maternity pay. She doesn’t even know who will pay the hospital bill for when she gave birth to her son. Neither Norway nor Iceland wants to pay.
All problems are solvable - but new obstacles often emerge faster than old ones are removed
Border obstacles are words which don’t really do the issue justice. Getting across borders is the least of Nordic citizens‘ problems - they’ve enjoyed a common labour market and passport-free travel since 1954.
The typical cross border commuter is Swedish
A new Statistics Sweden survey due to be published in May shows Nordic cross border commuting increased by 166 percent between 2001 and 2008. Swedes are most likely to work in neighbouring countries, and now 80 percent of Nordic citizens who commute to Denmark and Norway come from Sweden. Higher wages seem to be the biggest draw.
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