Labour Market

New ideas for virtual job seeking

(May 01, 2008) After more than a decade with vacancy databanks on the Internet, it is hard to imagine a time when job searches were not made electronically. Information technology has widened the reach of the companies and multiplied the choice for the jobseekers. But has it improved the matching?

Working con amore

(May 01, 2008) After fifteen years in Italy, it feels wonderful to be taken on the wings of the Scandinavian labour market. Not under! That's the whole point.

Theme: The hunt for manpower is on

(May 01, 2007) Will there be enough manpower when economies grow year on year while populations are ageing? No, say many employers in the Nordic countries. Their warning is that lack of manpower will jeopardise economic growth and innovation. Governments too are on the alert. Welfare states are dependent on enough workers to keep ticking over.

Labour shortage on everyone's lips

(May 01, 2007) Are we running out of manpower? After years of economic boom in the Nordic countries, an increasing number of businesses say they can no longer expand simply because there are not enough qualified people to employ. Meanwhile, a demographic problem is lurking; the large groups of people born in the 1940s are about to retire.

EU enlargement two years on: what challenges to the Nordic labour market?

(Oct 01, 2006) The growing mobility of labour from EU-8 after 1 May 2004 has contributed to increasing production and employment, curbing of prices and interest rates, and extending the room of manoeuvre in economic policies in the Nordic countries.

Norway's new Super Minister: Bjarne Håkon Hanssen

(Mar 10, 2006) Work for all is one of the main aims of Norway's new left-of-centre government. "Super Minister" Bjarne Håkon Hanssen carries a great responsibility. He controls one in three of every krone in the budget. He has to make sure the government reaches its goal of a more inclusive working life. The hidden unemployment must be fought, and more people of employable age must be included in working life.

Lack of manpower - a problem for all

(Mar 01, 2006) Sergo Teider-Lastikka says it makes no real difference that his countrymen will soon be free to seek work in Finland, when the country opens her border to workers from the new EU member states. He has not seen much of the limitations which have been in place for the past two years either.

Nordic Co-operation: Backing increased integration

(Mar 01, 2005) An overall relatively small number of people commuted across a border between the Nordic countries, yet in some regions the international commuting was very significant. Those are some of the results from the Nordic Commuting Map 2001, which was published recently. During its 2005 presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Denmark wants to make it easier for people to cross national borders to do a job.

A story of cooperation across the borders

(Nov 01, 2003) Knowledge about the labour market and personal relations is essential whenever employment services are called for. This is even more essential when you are charged with the provision of employment in another country. The following are some of the conclusions drawn by Oili Nätynki, based on many years of experience as an employment intermediary in the Nordic countries and as a Eures consultant.

The Nordic labour market in an extended Europe

(Nov 01, 2003) Ever since the early Nineties there has been a close cooperation between the Nordic and the Baltic countries. As the Baltic countries and Poland become members of the EU, the professed openness acclaimed by the Nordic countries through fifty years of cooperation is being put to the test.

Norwegian partnership for an inclusive workplace

(Nov 01, 2001) An "intention agreement for an inclusive workplace" was reached between the government and the Norwegian social partners at the beginning of October. Over the next four years, the parties will work actively towards reducing absenteeism by 20 %, getting more disabled people into work and encouraging people to stay working for longer. The agreement will be reviewed after two years.

Denmark: Flexible working arrangements and sheltered employment

(Jun 01, 2001) It is better to change the workplace than to force people into early retirement. This is the catch phrase of a reform currently taking place in Denmark. New ways of working have been introduced: flexible working arrangements and sheltered employment.