News — Nordic Labour Journal

Nordic trade unions praise #metoo convention

(Jun 27, 2019) New international standards will protect everybody’s right to a world of work free from violence and harassment. Danish and other Nordic trade unions call it a great leap forward for workers globally and in the Nordic region. Danish employers doubt it will have much effect.

Who killed the Nordic model?

(Jun 27, 2019) If you read Helge Hvid’s and Eivind Falkum’s book about Work and Wellbeing in the Nordic Countries like a crime story, it becomes exciting. The two editors are trying to establish whether the Nordic model already has died, or is dying. But does the evidence hold?

Mapping the mental border obstacles between Denmark and Sweden

(Jun 20, 2019) Preconceptions, experiences, habits and feelings can prevent businesses from working across national borders. Ethnologist Fredrik Nilsson says that besides money, a lot of emotions are being invested in cross-border work.

New Finnish work environment policy

(May 06, 2019) Psychosocial strain of work will increase as the transformation of work accelerates. We must therefore take a more comprehensive approach to risk assessments. That is the main message from the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s new policy for the work environment until 2030.

Unique study compares how Denmark, Norway and Sweden integrate refugees

(Apr 29, 2019) Who is best out of Denmark, Norway and Sweden at integrating refugees into their labour market? The answer depends at what stage after the refugees’ arrival you measure the success. Refugees to Denmark find jobs faster, but in the longer run more refugees get jobs in Sweden than in Denmark. Norway is the clear winner when it comes to integrating female refugees.

Nordic project: why do so few girls want to become engineers?

(Apr 12, 2019) Many future jobs will be centred around digitalisation, the development of artificial intelligence and robots, and biotechnology. But far too few girls chose to study the subjects that are relevant to these areas. The Nordic labour ministers want to know why.

Norway: Gender pay gap remains, but influence is slightly up

(Apr 12, 2019) The gender pay gap among full-time employees in Norway remains at 20 %. After adjusting for age, education, sector and several other factors, there is still a 13 % gender difference.

A shift in work-related crime – or just prettier facades?

(Apr 12, 2019) The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority has uncovered less work-related crime in 2018, even though more controls have been carried out compared to in previous years. Some point to improved cross-sector cooperation, while critics say inspections are of little use if they are not unannounced.

Iceland invites the ILO to the land of volcanoes and glaciers

(Mar 22, 2019) On the 4th and 5th of April, Iceland hosted the final out of four Nordic conferences ahead of the ILO’s centenary celebrations. The Future of Work conferences represent a very important forum not only for Iceland, but for the entire Nordic region, says Iceland’s Minister for Social Affairs and Children Ásmundur Einar Daðason.

Outgoing Secretary General: keep the Nordic focus

(Mar 15, 2019) The Nordic region and Nordic cooperation is held in high regard at home and abroad, so keep up the high levels of ambitions. That was the parting message for Nordic parliaments and governments from the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers Dagfinn Høybråten, as he stepped down after six years today.

Lisbeth Dalgaard Svanholm aims to gather big and small employers

(Mar 06, 2019) While the Danish trade union movement has got a new main organisation, their counterparts, DA, have got a new female leader who aims to bring together some very different member companies.

Severe cuts to the Swedish Public Employment Service

(Feb 15, 2019) What does the labour market look like for unemployed employment service workers? The question is suddenly relevant for a lot of staff at the Swedish Public Employment Service. 4,500 of them were given their notice on the 30th of January this year.

Danish trade union movement gathers the troops

(Feb 11, 2019) A joint trade union confederation with all of the country's unions as members? Denmark took a big step in that direction on 1 January.

Statistics Sweden: new statistics on how different immigrant groups manage in the Nordics

(Dec 17, 2018) Statistics Sweden (SCB) and its Nordic opposites have begun producing comparable statistics on how immigrants manage in the labour market, divided into country of origin.

New PIAAC study coming up – to measure abilities among adults

(Dec 14, 2018) The knowledge gap between high and low skilled workers widens over the course of a working life. One way of bridging the gap is securing more knowledge about where the strength and weaknesses lie in lifelong learning. This is the reason for the second round of the OECD’s PIAAC study, which looks at literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills in adults.