In Focus
How should trade unions handle #metoo?
The #metoo movement’s many appalling stories show that parallel to rules and regulations there has been culture of silence which has made sexual assaults and harassment possible. This is a challenge for trade unions on all levels, concluded Nordic trade union representatives at a meeting in Stockholm in February.
"Finnish home care support increases inequality"
Fewer Finnish children go to nursery than elsewhere in the Nordic region. One reason is the home care support, paid to parents who chose to stay at home beyond the normal parental leave period. The organisation Mothers in Business wants to scrap the benefit altogether, calling it a trap for women.
Enormous interest for Icelandic equal pay standard
Iceland is the first country in the world to make it legally binding for all companies with more than 25 employees to have an equal pay standard. The law says there should be equal pay for equal work for women and men in the same workplace. This has gained international attention.
Earmarked equal pay pool to reduce gender pay gap
Danish trade unions and political parties have proposed to earmark a separate pool of money to increase pay in traditional female occupations. One expert calls it a necessary first step, but warns more is needed to get rid of gender divisions in the labour market altogether.
Theme: New measures in the fight for gender equality in the Nordics
The 2018 gender equality barometer indicates a more equal division of power between the sexes in the Nordic region. Only Finland is lagging behind. #metoo shows more needs to be done in the fight for gender equality. The Nordic region is getting to grips with basic and structural changes in order to improve the gender balance in the workplace and in society as a whole.
Youths, work and inclusion
When young people are given the chance to create and master, results can be surprisingly good. The young entrepreneurs in No Isolation and Blueye Robotics have come up with innovative solutions to challenges like social isolation and polluted oceans.
Swedish cooperation could half time it takes youths and newly arrived to find work
It takes foreign born jobseekers less time to enter the Swedish labour market than it used to. But some, especially women and people with lower education, still face major challenges. Cooperation on a local level between the Employment Service and municipalities could help.
How private investors could make money from integrating immigrants in Finland
Finland is the first Nordic country to adopt the model where private investments are being used for social programmes. So-called Social Impact Bonds, or SIBs, also help private investors fund employment programmes for immigrants. If the private players manage to do better than the public sector, they will be rewarded.
No Isolation – creating new jobs to cover ancient needs
There is a reindustrialisation taking place in the middle of Oslo. Three young people have started their own business, making products as well-designed as anything coming out of Apple.
Blueye Robotics: The people's underwater drone bringing knowledge about our oceans
“Something happened to me when I went from collecting shells on the beach to finding more and more plastic and rubbish,” says Christine Spiten. She is one of four entrepreneurs who set up Blueye Robotics in 2015.
Anniken Hauglie at the Nordic council of ministers - changing focus on working environments
A changing labour market means new demands and challenges for the labour market's parties, politicians and society as a whole. This formed the backdrop when Anniken Hauglie hosted a conversation during the Nordic labour ministers' meeting in Oslo recently. The opening theme was how working environments influence productivity.
The future of work is central in new Nordic cooperation programme
A new cooperation programme, a comprehensive Nordic project on the future of work, a turn in the thinking around working life, and increased focus on integration. These were all issues highlighted by Norway’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie at the end of the 2017 Norwegian Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Joint Nordic project on the future of work
The Nordic ministers of labour have launched a comprehensive research project led by the Norwegian research foundation FAFO, studying how Nordic working life might look like in 2030. The knowledge resulting from the research will be used for further cooperation on the future of work in the working life sector.
Strong numbers for the Nordic labour market
The Nordic labour markets remain strong and unemployment is at its lowest level for the past three years in all of the Nordic countries. The numbers vary from 2.9 to 8.6 percent, but four of the five countries expect unemployment to fall further, according to the Nordic Economic Outlook 2017.
How can the EU’s social pillar be turned into reality?
The EU summit in Gothenburg was a success for the Swedish hosts, but what will the social pillar mean for Europe’s citizens?
The people and trade unions take EU to task over the social pillar
With a mix of slogans from the trade union movement, cinnamon rolls and sweets, the Swedish government, led by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, tries to present the EU from a different perspective. During the social summit in Gothenburg the social partners were literally sitting around the same table as prime ministers and EU Commissioners.
Employers: EU’s social pillar threatens the Nordic model
Nordic employers fear the EU’s new social pillar could undermine the Nordic model for the labour market. They intend to defend the model tooth-and-nail. That fight will be necessary, predicts a Danish labour market researcher.
Norway launches initiative against work-related crime during EU summit
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg seized the moment at the EU summit on social rights. She launched an offensive against work-related crime. Norway offers to work with an EU country to develop a more efficient control system.
The Faroese's tense relationship to the EU
50,000 people live in the Faroe Islands. There are 500 people in the EU. But do the Faroese want to be members in the big club and cooperate? The answer is a bit like the wind blowing across the stormy islands – it goes in all directions. Everyone wants closer cooperation, yet what that means depends on who you ask.
Workplaces must take the ageing workforce into account
When the workforce ages, workplaces face new challenges. This is particularly true for occupations where physical work makes up nearly all of the working day, according to Maria Albin, the keynote speaker at a European high-level conference on the working environment to be held in Bilbao in November.
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