In Focus
Iceland: the crisis brought a female breakthrough
The financial crisis hit Iceland harder than any other Nordic country, and it also led to a political earthquake. Wide-spread corruption and nepotism made voters look for new politicians. This has benefited women.
Finnish women have conquered the most important positions of power
Finnish women top the Nordic Labour Journal power barometer with 15 out of a possible 40 points. Not least because both their president and prime minster are women.
Norwegian women have lost the most power
Norway has been the hottest country in the gender equality debate since quotas were made law there in 2008. Publicly listed firms, often major listed companies, must have at least 40 percent of each sex in their boardrooms. Yet at the same time women have lost more positions of power in Norway than in any other Nordic country.
Who'll replace Sweden's powerful women?
Sweden is the only Nordic country which has never had a female prime minister or a female head of state in modern times. The Social Democrat Party leader Mona Sahlin could have become prime minister in the September 2010 elections, but her new red-green coalition lost.
New tack sought in Danish equality debate
Norway uses quotas and a men's panel to improve gender equality, but in Denmark there is disagreement on how to do it. Yet the Danes do agree there's a need for a gender equality debate which focuses on both sexes.
"Part-time is a result of lacking equality”
The high number of involuntary part-timers is a result of how we value women's work, says Annelie Nordström, chairwoman at Kommunal, the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union. The union has been fighting for the right to full-time employment for 30 years. It's been an uphill battle, and since the economic crisis hit in 2009 it's been even harder.
Work without boundaries can severely increase number of burnouts
The borderline between work and leisure time is becoming fuzzy. It's getting increasingly difficult to achieve the old dream of eight hours' work, eight hours' off and eight hours' sleep when the smartphone wants your attention, colleagues work in other timezones and you need to work a night shift to get through your inbox.
Online culture's effect on work-life balance
A working life without boundaries puts new demands on management, employers and unions. They all need to prevent workers slaving away until they drop.
Rocketing Finnish IT business: less bureaucracy saves our spare time
Today's software businesses face demands for a shorter journey from idea to product and expectations of higher returns of investments. Finnish company Houston Inc. claims this can still be achieved with a 7.5 hour working day and a work tempo which won't lead to burnouts.
Racing against nature
For two months every year John Johansen (45) works seven days a week, 14 hours a day. He'll drive 2,600 kilometres and count some 120,000 soon-to-be-born sheep. "I start in Rogaland on 12 January, then I drive to East-Norway and then north from there. I finish in Vardø on 14 March. By then I'll have performed ultrasound scans on some 50,000 sheep."
Soft skills needed for the new White and Green jobs
The EU Commission has presented a new agenda for new skills and jobs. During the economic crisis there are still two kinds of jobs that are in extra demand – the white and the green ones.
Changes to IT affect systems as well as the social environment
Many businesses and organisations change their IT systems, yet in 70 percent of cases the change ends in failure with regard to time, budget or function. There have been many studies of what went wrong. Einar Iveroth chose to study what went right in the cases that succeeded.
Coaches compete for the unemployed Swedes
The Swedish government has charged the Public Employment Service with procuring coaches worth 1.1bn Kronor (€12m) for the year 2009. This created a fast growing market for coaching. Today 900 businesses have a contract with the employment service. The contracts don't guarantee any customers, however, and the businesses offering coaches must do their own marketing.
Why Swedes are aware of integration issues
What is it that the trade unions and employers in Sweden do to make them top a ranking of awareness of integration issues made by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)?
Swedish employers and trade unions most aware of work place racism
Awareness of racism in the workplace is growing yet still very low in many EU countries. Swedish employers and trade unions have the highest awareness, while those in Estonia have the lowest, according to a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report.
Visa-free zone heralds Norwegian-Russian labour market in the North
Another milestone in Norwegian-Russian cooperation is reached as Norway and Russia agrees on visa-free travel for border region residents,. The visa-free zone crosses the Schengen border, making it a rarity in Europe. Yet there are reasons to remain patient. It could take another 12 months before the agreement comes into force.
The changes hidden behind the smokescreen
As the Iron Curtain came down, contacts between the Nordic region and Russia multiplied. Yet the image of the Eastern neighbour needs updating, even in the part of the Nordic region which has enjoyed the friendliest relationship - the Norwegian municipality of Sør-Varanger on the border with Russia. The nickel plant across the border has been a smokescreen both literally and figuratively.
Russian Arcady's weekly commute to Finland
Many travel the 400 kilometres between Helsinki and St Petersburg on business. Yet despite improved communications, a common labour market still is some time away.
Visa-free travel between Russia and the EU - what will happen?
Most people in the Nordic countries take it for granted that they can travel abroad without the need for a visa. It's only needed for exotic destinations - or Russia. And Moscow uses every opportunity to bring the issue up with the EU.
Danish Activation Centres provide link to working life
There's no better place to train for working life than in a workplace. That's the basic idea of Denmark's new Activation Centres. They work with the most challenging group of unemployed people, yet results are good. David Andersen is supported by his mentor Tina Andersen at the Kvickly supermarket.
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