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Who'll replace Sweden's powerful women?
Mar 07, 2011 Sweden is the only Nordic country which has never had a female prime minister or a female head of state in modern times. The Social Democrat Party leader Mona Sahlin could have become prime minister in the September 2010 elections, but her new red-green coalition lost.
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"Part-time is a result of lacking equality”
Mar 07, 2011 The high number of involuntary part-timers is a result of how we value women's work, says Annelie Nordström, chairwoman at Kommunal, the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union. The union has been fighting for the right to full-time employment for 30 years. It's been an uphill battle, and since the economic crisis hit in 2009 it's been even harder.
News
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.
Portrait
Challenge to Finland's health sector "not due to lack of resources”
Mar 07, 2011 Finland's health and social care sector is facing major challenges. But this is not about a lack of resources. Systems and processes need an overhaul to allow doctors and nurses to work with what they have been trained for: to take care of people, Finland's Minister of Social Affairs and Health Juha Rehula tells Nordic Labour Journal.
tema
Work without boundaries can severely increase number of burnouts
Feb 11, 2011 The borderline between work and leisure time is becoming fuzzy. It's getting increasingly difficult to achieve the old dream of eight hours' work, eight hours' off and eight hours' sleep when the smartphone wants your attention, colleagues work in other timezones and you need to work a night shift to get through your inbox.
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Rocketing Finnish IT business: less bureaucracy saves our spare time
Feb 11, 2011 Today's software businesses face demands for a shorter journey from idea to product and expectations of higher returns of investments. Finnish company Houston Inc. claims this can still be achieved with a 7.5 hour working day and a work tempo which won't lead to burnouts.
News
Finnish presidency to continue fight against youth unemployment
Feb 11, 2011 The Finnish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers' wants to spend 2011 to focus on global cooperation, border cooperation, youth, the future needs for labour market competence, extended careers and the prevention of accidents in the workplace.
Portrait
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.
tema
Racing against nature
Feb 09, 2011 For two months every year John Johansen (45) works seven days a week, 14 hours a day. He'll drive 2,600 kilometres and count some 120,000 soon-to-be-born sheep. "I start in Rogaland on 12 January, then I drive to East-Norway and then north from there. I finish in Vardø on 14 March. By then I'll have performed ultrasound scans on some 50,000 sheep."
Insight
Work is top priority in integration of Sweden's new arrivals
Feb 09, 2011 As soon as newly arrived refugees are granted permission to stay in Sweden the process of getting them established in society begins. The goal is to cut the time it takes to get settled into the labour market. Those who want to can use personal guides who'll help them with work and integration.
tema
Changes to IT affect systems as well as the social environment
Dec 06, 2010 Many businesses and organisations change their IT systems, yet in 70 percent of cases the change ends in failure with regard to time, budget or function. There have been many studies of what went wrong. Einar Iveroth chose to study what went right in the cases that succeeded.
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