Employment
Articles on employment in chronological order.
Young Norwegians increasingly unhappy with working life
The 2024 Working Life Barometer shows more people are struggling financially, more fear losing their jobs or becoming ill and many young people are unhappy with working life.
Danish farmers “exploiting foreign interns”
Danish farmers are using cheap labour from Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania and India by using an agricultural intern programme. Trade unions have been critical to their working conditions and have secured continued oversight of the programme.
Mobilising for a strong social Europe
On 16 April, a new social declaration on the future of employment policy covering the years 2024 to 2019 was adopted in Belgian La Hulpe. The La Hulpe Declaration was signed by the Belgian Presidency on behalf of 25 countries. Sweden and Austria were the only EU states not to sign.
Socially excluded young people, a key issue across the Nordics
Across the Nordic region, there is a focused search for measures to include young people who are not in education or employment into the labour market. Researchers agree that the best solution is for young individuals to be followed up by people they can have close and long-term relationships with. But the number of people who find themselves socially excluded remains approximately on the same level.
Danish Royal stardust for youth jobs in Esbjerg
”Energy for Each Other” is a youth initiative in Esbjerg municipality, known across Denmark, which has won an award for getting young people into education and work. Three of those young people now work at Den Jyske Kontrolcentral, where head of operations Erik Sørensen is very content with his young co-workers.
Employment specialist helped Norwegian Julia (17) find her dream job
Close cooperation between two public authorities in Norway is giving young people with mental health challenges a new chance in the classroom or in the labour market. Employment specialist Anne Tvedt helped Julia Engan Pettersen find her dream job.
Iceland: Work is better than therapy for vulnerable youth
“It pays to invest in people, and we must never give up on our young people,” says Vigdís Jónsdóttir, the CEO of the job rehabilitation centre VIRK in Iceland. Last year, VIRK was one of the signatories to a memorandum of understanding involving a large increase in support for young people in vulnerable situations.
Immigrants struggle to find work in the Nordics despite labour shortages
Many immigrants in Nordic countries are left without jobs, despite labour shortages. The Finnish company Snellman has a lot of experience with hiring immigrants. “Immigrants are very keen on getting a job and they are keen workers. They are loyal employees,” says head of HR Ann-Marie Eklund.
Nordic researchers want political action on NEETs
More and more young people in the Nordics are not in education or employment. Not enough is done to help young people facing extra challenges, argue Nordic researchers.
Considerable local differences in Sweden's efforts for NEETs
Swedish municipalities have very different approaches to how they help more young people with social inclusion, according to a survey that also includes examples of successful measures. Meanwhile, a Nordic project is working to improve young people’s mental health – one of the biggest risk factors for ending up in social exclusion.
The Tesla strike – a fight for the Swedish model
A drama is taking place in the Swedish labour market. The trade union IF Metall is taking industrial action to get EV maker Tesla to sign a collective agreement. Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people and Tesla’s main shareholder, refuses. After many sympathy actions from other trade unions, he is taking the Swedish state to court.
Iceland’s unemployment rate lowest for 20 years
Unemployment goes up and down and is almost always connected to the strength of the economy. This is also the case now, as Iceland’s economy has begun to grow again after the pandemic – largely because of tourism. The unemployment rate in June was 2.5 per cent, the lowest for 20 years. Although this is in itself a positive thing, it has some negative side effects.
Scandinavian data centres: fewer jobs and less profit than forecast
New data centres are popping up in Norway and Sweden along with a lot of hope for many new jobs and high returns.
Working on the Baltic Sea – long shifts and a close community
The ferries between the Nordics and the Baltics are important transport corridors and keep a lot of people in employment. One of the boats doing the crossing is Aura Seaways, where 52 crew live and work for four weeks at a time.
Electric planes herald new traffic patterns in the Nordics
Electric planes might do more than reduce CO2 emissions. They could also open up a new category of commuting with new, shorter routes. Electric planes would also bring new jobs to manufacturing and at smaller airfields.
Finland's largest industrial project finally finished
The Olkiluoto nuclear power plant has been called a forever project. The first two reactors were built in the 1970s. Now the third reactor has come online, after more than 30 years.
Sudden growth creates problems for Icelandic tourism
Icelandic tourism has bounced back faster than expected. The head of the travel industry likens it to champagne flowing when the cork has popped. Thanks to government support most of the tourist companies survived.
The Swedish model entering a new era: more power to central organisations
It has been described as a victory for the Swedish model. Yet the employment act reform now being proposed by the Swedish government is in reality a structural shift where central labour market organisations will gain greater power at the expense of their affiliated unions. It also changes the division of responsibilities between the state and the social partners, on which the Swedish model is based.
New challenges for work environments as technology and humans come together
The work environment of the future will be here sooner than we think, and it will be different from the one labour inspection authorities have been monitoring until now. A new Nordic report considers some threats that look like science fiction. Others are already a reality for many workers, yet we know little about these threats’ long-term effects.
Faroe Islands: Old recipes and new crises
An economic crisis from 1992, a salmon test from 2000 and an idea for a restaurant from 2013. These are some of the ingredients in the Faroese recipe for how the island society in the North Atlantic and its 52,000 inhabitants would come out out of the Corona crisis better than anyone. So far it has been a rather good recipe.
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