In Focus
Finland: More awareness around workplace threats to social workers
Female Finnish social and care workers run a higher risk of being the victims of violence and threats of violence. Social workers very often suffer verbal threats that sometimes turn into pure stalking. The authorities are now aware of the problem, but the road to safer workplaces is long.
Kone: Lifting the office environment to a new level
Few Nordic companies play such a big part in the work environment as Kone. But they do it discretely. As long as everything works, hardly anyone thinks about the lifts and escalators we use to and from our jobs and inside the building where we work.
Work-related crime must be fought with improved cooperation
When crime occurs in organised ways, inspection authorities and the social partners also need to improve their cross-border cooperation. This was one of the messages when participants from the Nordics and Baltics met at an experts’ seminar in Stockholm recently.
Finland: Unions and the construction industry join forces to fight shadow economy
Trade unions and employers have entered into an unusual collaboration to fight unfair competition and the shadow economy within the Finnish construction industry. A cross-border cooperation has also been important for work environment agencies in Finland and Estonia.
Labour migration to Denmark leads to fear of increased social dumping
Denmark is a popular destination for jobseekers from other EU countries. Trade unions fear this could lead to increased social dumping and want more controls. Yet most foreigners are in jobs that are covered by Danish collective agreements, says one expert.
The Oslo model brings transparency to the construction sector
The view is dizzying as one of the construction workers climb the steps at the top of the new Munch Museum which is being built in Oslo. The museum will be more than a shop window for Norwegian culture; the construction project is also meant to be a showcase for fair competition and working conditions in the construction industry.
“Paternal leave extremely important to reach gender equality"
“Today’s paternal leave legislation gives employers a lot of room to negotiate with men whether they should take leave or not. We need less flexible solutions,” says Anne Lise Ellingsæter, who has led a Nordic inquiry into parental leave. It proposed to reserve 20 weeks’ leave for the father.
The research project against all odds: Olli Kangas on Finland’s universal basic income
Does Finland’s experiment with a universal basic income prove that this could be a solution for the future? We will not know until 2020. But in one way, the research project has already been a success – the fact that it was possible to carry it out at all.
The platform giants are profitable – but create few new jobs
The digital revolution will transform the work force in the 21st Century, just as the industrial revolution. But technology will create a host of new type of jobs and challenges as society moves from muscle and brainpower to data power, according to professors Bo Dahlbom and Ragnar Torvik.
The Nordics could take a digital lead – with the right measures
Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) can create growth in the Nordic region without creating unemployment – but rapid political action is needed, says the management consulting firm McKinsey.
Skills and fair distribution a precondition for digitalisation
Nordic people are keen to adopt new technology at work. The region is leading the way. The challenge is making sure workers get the chance to adapt to new skills, how to organise skills development and who should pay. We need better systems to handle the challenges, said Ylva Johansson at the recent conference on the Future of Work in Stockholm.
OECD: Robots less of a threat to Nordic jobs, but major IT gender gap is
14 percent of jobs in OECD countries are at high risk of becoming automated, while a further 32 percent of jobs will change radically, says Mark Keese, Head of the Skills and Employability Division at the OECD.
Digitalisation gives job centres new tasks and opportunities
Artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technology can tighten the quality for Nordic job centres, but also represents new challenges for authorities – including data safety.
Google wants to enter the Nordic labour market
Optimism clearly trumped pessimism at the Nordic conference on the Future of Work in Stockholm in the middle of May. Companies, politicians and trade unions mainly praised the digital future.
The Disruption Council explores the future
Long before the Danish Disruption Council ends its work, it has already identified a range of ways to secure that digitalisation, robots and artificial intelligence (AI) increase wealth and improve welfare, even though many traditional jobs will disappear.
Can continuously learning save Finland’s future competences needs?
In Finland, experts are looking at education policies and more for solutions to the future labour market’s challenges. A government-appointed panel has presented its first report, ‘Ett ständigt lärande Finland’ (Finland – a country of continuous learning) – which has been subject to criticism from trade unions for being light on concrete measures.
No fish is wasted with Icelandic technology
Iceland’s fisheries industry has undergone a revolution in recent years. Fishing companies and tech firms have worked together to develop high tech solutions. Iceland is a global leader when it comes to developing fish processing technology. Productivity has shot up, and new computerised machinery is being exported.
Jon Erik Dølvik: Technology easily blinds us, yet we can shape our own future of work
He does not use the analogy himself, but when Jon Erik Dølvik talks about the future of work it sounds as if he is talking about the Gulf Stream. When researching whether the Nordic model can manage challenges like automation, globalisation and the platform economy, he is mostly interested in how the flow of capital affects employment.
Digitalisation now also concerns people with higher education
Camilla Tepfers’ choice of words is surprising as she describes the skills needed when machines have learnt what we thought only humans could to: Those who can tolerate boredom are the winners, she might say. Or those who consider things in more depth.
The difference between a therapy dog and a Japanese robot seal
Robots help elderly care workers. Surveys show robots cannot replace employees, but they can help in their work and improve older people’s everyday life.
Document Actions
Follow us on Facebook
