News
Meeting of Nordic Labour Ministers: Turning point for youth politics
Dec 01, 2010 How do you reach youths who are not in education nor employment? How do you motivate youth to finish their education? How do you secure a safe transition between school and working life? These were among the questions when labour ministers met to discuss youth unemployment in Copenhagen on 25 November.
tema
Swedish employers and trade unions most aware of work place racism
Nov 26, 2010 Awareness of racism in the workplace is growing yet still very low in many EU countries. Swedish employers and trade unions have the highest awareness, while those in Estonia have the lowest, according to a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report.
Portrait
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.
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Visa-free zone heralds Norwegian-Russian labour market in the North
Nov 03, 2010 Another milestone in Norwegian-Russian cooperation is reached as Norway and Russia agrees on visa-free travel for border region residents,. The visa-free zone crosses the Schengen border, making it a rarity in Europe. Yet there are reasons to remain patient. It could take another 12 months before the agreement comes into force.
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Borders
The changes hidden behind the smokescreen
Nov 03, 2010 As the Iron Curtain came down, contacts between the Nordic region and Russia multiplied. Yet the image of the Eastern neighbour needs updating, even in the part of the Nordic region which has enjoyed the friendliest relationship - the Norwegian municipality of Sør-Varanger on the border with Russia. The nickel plant across the border has been a smokescreen both literally and figuratively.
News
Work environment key to Swedish competitiveness
Nov 03, 2010 The work environment is often associated with risks, but now the Swedish government wants to turn the phrase on its head and highlight the positive sides. A good work environment can improve workers' health, lift the business and improve competitiveness. Those are some of the conclusions from the government's national action plan for the work environment which it presented in September.
Comments
Will Lex Laval work?
Nov 02, 2010 On 9 September the Swedish Building Workers' Union (Byggnads) took industrial action against a Lithuanian company building a school in Höllviken in Southern Sweden. The union demanded the company paid its Lithuanian workers according Swedish salary agreements. Are we heading towards a new Laval ruling?
tema
Visa-free travel between Russia and the EU - what will happen?
Nov 02, 2010 Most people in the Nordic countries take it for granted that they can travel abroad without the need for a visa. It's only needed for exotic destinations - or Russia. And Moscow uses every opportunity to bring the issue up with the EU.
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Danish Activation Centres provide link to working life
Oct 03, 2010 There's no better place to train for working life than in a workplace. That's the basic idea of Denmark's new Activation Centres. They work with the most challenging group of unemployed people, yet results are good. David Andersen is supported by his mentor Tina Andersen at the Kvickly supermarket.
tema
OECD: the most exposed young must get help now
Oct 03, 2010 "If we want to avoid a generation of unemployed, it's time to help the most exposed to get jobs or education. In the long term we need structural measures to improve the basic system," says Stefano Scarpetta, the OECD's deputy director for employment, labour and social affairs.
tema
IMF and ILO: young people at greater risk now than during previous crisis
Oct 03, 2010 The current economic crisis has hit young people harder than previous crisis. Youth unemployment usually rises fast in an economic downturn, but this time it has risen by 6.5 percent compared to an average 4 percent during earlier downturns.
Portrait
Guðbjartur Hannesson - Iceland's Minister for Welfare
Oct 03, 2010 Guðbjartur Hannesson is Iceland's new minister in charge of merging all welfare issues into one ministry. He must do this while the country's budget is cut to the bone in the wake of the 2008 crash which left the country's economy in ruins. The Ministry of Welfare must be up and running by the end of the year.
News
New jobs from bottlenecks
Sep 30, 2010 Sustainable development will be the main trend for working life next year, predicts Finnish future researcher Antti Kasvio at the Helsinki-based Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. He and colleague Timo Räikkönen have looked at how global changes influence the way we work.
News