Editorial
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Nov 2015
Tighten up!
Nov 27, 2015 The limit has been reached. Controls are being increased and things are being tightened up. Even Sweden has thrown in the towel. Swedish asylum rules will be adapted to fit with the EU’s minimum level. What now? Will the Nordic welfare societies stand the test?
In focus
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Nov 2015
Refugees - burden or resource?
Nov 27, 2015 Refugees’ chances of getting to the Nordic countries have been dramatically reduced. Before the tightening of rules, more than 170,000 people applied for asylum in a Nordic country. Even if nany of the new arrivals will be turned down, the region will still get a solid boost of labour. Can refugees be included in working life without lowering wages and risking the creation of a new economic underclass?
tema
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Nov 2015
What happens when the refugee stream has been stemmed?
Nov 27, 2015 “It’s like on a plane when the oxygen masks have been activated. When you’re told to put on your own mask before helping people sitting next to you. If we are to help the world, we must look after our own country first,” says Jøran Kallmyr, State Secretary at the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
tema
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Nov 2015
Researcher: ”Lowering the minimum wage creates a new underclass”
Nov 27, 2015 There is agreement on one thing when it comes to refugees — the many newly arrived must be integrated into their new societies. They need accommodation, language skills and jobs. The Nordic cooperation could do with sharing experiences for how to achieve that.
tema
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Nov 2015
Entrepreneurs with a clear message about refugees
Nov 27, 2015 Finland has been caught unprepared by a flow of refugees the size of which the country has not experienced since World War II and the evacuation of Finnish Karelia. Many private individuals have been willing to help look after the new arrivals by offering food, clothes and accommodation. And now entrepreneurs are starting to turn up at refugee centres.
Insight
Marginalised youths on the labour ministers’ agenda
Nov 27, 2015 “No youths should be left to their own devices for longer periods of time,” Danish Noemi Katznelson told Nordic labour ministers when she presented her latest research in Copenhagen recently. Marginalised youths and work were the themes for discussion between the ministers and the social partners, with a focus on preventative measures against unemployment.
Portrait
New President of LO-Denmark defends the Nordic model
Nov 27, 2015 The new first lady of the Danish trade union movement, Lizette Risgaard, is a staunch defender of Nordic cooperation and has already proven that she will fight to the bitter end in defence of the Nordic collective bargaining model.
News
Europe wants to turn waste into gold
Nov 27, 2015 Leading Danish politicians and businesses believe the circular economy is about to become a mega trend in Europe. Now they get backing from a new study which lists the enormous economic benefits which following a better use of resources. A new EU plan is in the works.
News
New regulations improve Swedish workers’ protection against bullying
Nov 24, 2015 Swedish employers are to become better at preventing people going off sick because of unhealthy workloads or bullying at work. That is what new regulations from the Swedish Work Environment Authority aim to achieve. They contain clearer rules for how employers should work with organisational and social work environment issues.
News
Nordregio: Young Icelanders shy away from traditional occupations
Nov 24, 2015 Icelandic youths are not interested in a future career in agriculture or fisheries. The only animals they will consider looking after in the future are pets. They would rather become coaches or work in the fitness sector, according to a fresh study from Nordregio which has mapped the future perspectives of young people in the Arctic.
News
Has EU gender equality policy lost its momentum?
Nov 19, 2015 Yes, reckons Finnish researcher Johanna Kantola. The EU Court of Justice, meanwhile, is having a positive impact through judgements which could also have major consequences in the Nordic region, according to Kirsten Ketscher, Professor of Social Security and Welfare at the University of Copenhagen.
Comments
Refugees leaving their mark
Oct 23, 2015 “I don’t believe anyone in any government office fails to think about refugees,” says the new Director for the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) Sigrun Vågeng in the Portrait. The numbers arriving to the Nordics have broken all predictions and colour societies and their public debate.
tema
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Oct 2015
Why are working life researchers so reluctant to talk about the future?
Oct 23, 2015 This summer Ann Bergman really managed to ignite the debate on working life research. In an article in the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies she asked why working life researchers are so uninterested in the future.
tema
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Oct 2015
Do we have a true image of the new working life?
Oct 23, 2015 For many years there has been talk about the new working life, where work is more about doing something meaningful than about making money. But are we really seeing the emergence of a new type of independent worker who feels collective agreements and permanent contracts are nothing but obstacles?
Portrait
Norway's new NAV Director: Sigrun Vågeng wants less central control and better leadership
Oct 23, 2015 “I have clear instructions to increase the focus on labour within NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration). That is my mission,” says Labour and Welfare Director Sigrun Vågeng. She believes less centralised control and more leadership will help her in that mission.
News
Cross-border education at the Cap of the North extended
Oct 23, 2015 Since 1991 Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian youths on at the Cap of the North have been able to meet and get vocational training under the auspices of Utbildning Nord (Education North) — a unique cross-border education strategy. On 19 October the scheme was extended until 2019.
News