Editorial
The necessary skills at the right time
Sep 19, 2017 Finding a good match is not always easy, especially in the labour market. As the labour market is transforming at lightning speed, the need for skills increases. The opportunity to get adult and continuing education becomes equally important. But how to do it? The Nordic Labour Journal looks at possibilities and practice in the Nordic region.
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“Only the labour market knows which skills are needed”
Sep 19, 2017 Swedish employers are in desperate need of people to fill positions within many different occupations. Meanwhile, more than 340,000 people are registered with the employment service. The problem is that the job seekers’ knowledge often does not match the needs of the employer.
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Sep 2017
Fitness industry seeks millennium-old skills – and knowledge of how to become bootylicious
Sep 19, 2017 More than four million Nordic citizens are members of gyms like Sats Elixia. As a result, the demand for skilled instructors is considerable. We joined one student of theology, one accountant and one brand expert in their spinning, yoga and shape classes.
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Sep 2017
How Sats Elixia works to secure the right competency
Sep 19, 2017 Competency is a moving target, since the knowledge needed to manage a job always changes. In the fitness and exercise industry this is doubly true. Not only does one trend replace another. Competency also often means knowing the right movements and how to make people move.
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Sep 2017
Older colleagues’ experience needed as the 80’s generation take over the Viking ferries
Sep 19, 2017 Viking Line is facing a real challenge. The largest age group onboard their Baltic Sea passenger ferries is 50 to 59 year olds. When they retire, a big chunk of competence disappears. The company has decided to treat this as a challenge and not a problem.
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Sep 2017
Restaurants break with old language norm – English makes an entrance
Sep 19, 2017 Finnish restaurateurs are worried about the lack of Finnish-speaking waiters. As a result, more and more restaurants now seek English-speaking staff. Meanwhile, trade unions sound a warning that many young people are leaving the trade because of low pay and a lack of workplace training opportunities.
In focus
A Nordic drive for lifting competencies
Sep 19, 2017 A changing labour market always needs new competency. Employees and employers must stay up to date. Workplaces from fitness centres to fisheries need to secure the knowledge which new developments demand, whether it is digitalisation or yoga. All the Nordic countries are looking at how to organise their adult and continuing education.
News
Icelandic continuing education: “Employees became more interested in their jobs"
Sep 15, 2017 One in three adult Icelanders had no more than an elementary school education in the year 2000, and got no continuing education through their work. Since then, the social partners have developed a learning centre for further training of people with lower education levels. This has helped reduce the share of lower educated. It used to be 33 percent, now it is 25 percent of the low-educated workforce.
News
Agreement on what constitutes minimum rates of pay for construction workers in Sweden
Sep 13, 2017 After nearly ten years of quarrelling, the Swedish trade union for construction workers (Byggnads) and their counterparts at the Swedish Construction Federation (BI) have agreed what the “minimum rates of pay” for constructions workers posted to Sweden should comprise. The parties think the same conditions should apply for public procurement of construction projects.
News
Erna Solberg heads for four more years as Norwegian Prime Minister
Sep 12, 2017 Erna Solberg carries on as Norway’s Prime Minister, but with a weaker parliamentary mandate. The Labour Party was the looser in Monday’s election. The Centre Party gained the most ground, carried forward by rural areas protesting against what they see as a threat to municipal independence.
In focus
The Nordics: More openness for labour market inclusion
Jun 22, 2017 The refugee crisis has led to more cooperation between the Nordic countries in order to find the best ways of including refugees into the labour market. But inclusion is also about being open to everyone who for different reasons struggle to get a foothold in working life. Danish municipalities show how success can be achieved when the integration measures feel meaningful to all involved.
News
Challenging globalisation’s winners: The OECD wants to bridge the divides
Jun 22, 2017 The OECD’s Stefano Scarpetta calls the new narrative a paradigm shift. We must change the ideas which have created an increasing gap between rich and poor, says Secretary-General Angel Gurría: Economic growth is not enough, we need a new vision for inclusive and sustainable development. The social dimension broke through clearly at the OECD Forum 2017.
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Polish immigrants in Norway – with only one foot in the labour market
Jun 22, 2017 Polish labour immigrants travelled to Norway rather than to Sweden or Denmark, which were closer, when Poland joined the EU in 2004. Most did not intend to stay, but after some years their families joined them in Norway. Because of short work contracts, the immigrants are in a kind of limbo. They have a job, but little prospect of promotion.
News
Everybody wants to know about refugees’ skills
Jun 22, 2017 While the Nordic countries tightened border controls and made it harder for refugees to seek asylum, they also changed their policies to help refugees get quicker access to the labour market. In Norway the asylum seekers can now register their skills by themselves.
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The Nordic region wants more refugees in work
Jun 22, 2017 The Nordic countries are leading the way when it comes to the inclusion of refugees, says the OECD’s Thomas Liebig. He holds up the unique structural introduction programmes as one example. The problem is that not many find work after finishing the programme. Norway’s Minister of Labour Anniken Hauglie wants to improve the way the measure is targeted in order to get refugees into the labour market.
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Refugee immigration not primarily about money
Jun 22, 2017 What do refugees cost? It is a concern for both proponents and opponents of welcoming refugees to a country. Yet research shows the challenge is more social than economic, where the major risk of alienation lies in the gap between those who have a job and those who do not.
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