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In Focus

Unemployment soon back to normal after eruptive increase

Unemployment soon back to normal after eruptive increase

Anyone who’s stood frozen-fingered waiting for the Icelandic Strokkur geysir to erupt with its boiling water can imagine what it felt like at Iceland’s Directorate of Labour when unemployment figures started emerging after the 2008 crisis.

Unemployment soon back to normal after eruptive increase - Read More…

The guardian of welfare during Iceland’s crisis

The guardian of welfare during Iceland’s crisis

Five and a half years after the Icelandic economy collapsed, we now know children were doing better during the crisis than before, even though the opposite had been feared. This is according to the Welfare Watch, a body set up soon after the crisis hit which brought many good forces together to protect Icelanders’ welfare.

The guardian of welfare during Iceland’s crisis - Read More…

Iceland a step closer to equal pay

Iceland a step closer to equal pay

A new voluntary equal pay standard is bringing Iceland one step closer to equal pay and cements Iceland’s leadership when it comes to gender equality.

Iceland a step closer to equal pay - Read More…

Harpa in Reykjavik: Iceland’s symbol of recovery

Harpa in Reykjavik: Iceland’s symbol of recovery

Despite being so heavy hit by the crisis, Icelanders continued construction of the new music house Harpa in Reykjavik - the only building project which kept going during the crisis. And as Iceland is bouncing back, the award-winning building Harpa has become the symbol of Iceland’s economic recovery.

Harpa in Reykjavik: Iceland’s symbol of recovery - Read More…

Mapped: Nordic migration between 1960 and 2010

Mapped: Nordic migration between 1960 and 2010

There have been major changes between 1960 and 2010. Sweden has the most emigrants, Norway takes in the most immigrants - not only from other Nordic countries, but from former eastern European countries and other parts of the world too.

Mapped: Nordic migration between 1960 and 2010 - Read More…

Bold Nordic agreement without a political “father”

Bold Nordic agreement without a political “father”

The common labour market is the jewel in the Nordic cooperation. It was established as early as 1954, three years before the five first member states of what would become the EU signed the Treaty of Rome.

Bold Nordic agreement without a political “father” - Read More…

Moving gave several identities

Moving gave several identities

Gunnel M Helander came to Sweden with her family aged four in late summer 1954. She now lives in Hanko in Finland’s south-westernmost point and is a retired architect. She feels Nordic: Swedish, Finnish and Ålandish. Her removal van has made many trips between Sweden and Finland.

Moving gave several identities - Read More…

“Sweden was somewhere you could make money”

“Sweden was somewhere you could make money”

Early autumn 1954, and Gösta Helsing is 17, one of nine siblings living at home in a small village in Vörå in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. Post-war Finland is poor from paying reparations to Russia and there are few jobs. The small farm cannot sustain all nine siblings. Many neighbours, friends and relatives are moving to Sweden.

“Sweden was somewhere you could make money” - Read More…

An interest in engines took him to Sweden - but it didn’t pay enough

An interest in engines took him to Sweden - but it didn’t pay enough

Per Billington moved from Norway in 1984 to work at Volvo’s research department in Gothenburg for one and a half years. It shaped his entire career. This is where he learned ‘ordning och reda’ — Swedish ‘proper order’ — and he learned to love diesel engines.

An interest in engines took him to Sweden - but it didn’t pay enough - Read More…

Always Norwegian at heart

Always Norwegian at heart

This August Norwegian badminton player Erik Rundle has lived in Denmark for longer than he lived in Norway, and he doubts he will ever return for more than holidays and to defend his badminton titles.

Always Norwegian at heart - Read More…

Longed for Icelandic nature — became head of an aluminium plant

Longed for Icelandic nature — became head of an aluminium plant

When US aluminium giant Alcoa built a smelting plant in Iceland in the 2000s, Danish Janne Sigurðsson quit her job in Denmark and moved to Iceland. She was a stay-at-home mother for a while. Now she heads Alcoa’s largest aluminium smelting plant in Europe.

Longed for Icelandic nature — became head of an aluminium plant - Read More…

“Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?”

“Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?”

On 13 December 2010 Charlotte Lundell started working as Brand Manager at Orkla Confectionery & Snacks. The first thing she did when she got the job was to google: “Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?” At the time she was one of 80,000 Swedes working in Norway. In 2013 she is one of 90,000.

“Swede moving to Norway, what do I need to know?” - Read More…

Robots can save jobs

Robots and increased automation can save many jobs from disappearing. At the same time many low paid jobs disappear when machines take over certain tasks. The NLJ looks at what the new technological revolution means.

Robots can save jobs - Read More…

Denmark supercharges welfare technology

The Danish government wants the public sector to be obliged to use welfare technology in nursing homes and hospitals to a much larger degree. There has been some progress, but the breakthrough has not yet come.

Denmark supercharges welfare technology - Read More…

“I've become more independent"

“I've become more independent"

Aarhus Municipality is paving the way in introducing welfare technology. For 67 year old Svend Erik Christensen this means he can manage much more on his own — including going to the toilet.

“I've become more independent" - Read More…

The modern industry worker: a new technology operator

The modern industry worker: a new technology operator

“There’s no smoke, nobody seems to be around, what is it you’re doing?” A question often put by foreign visitors to the Director of Herøya Industrial Park. Change, improved efficiency and new technology has made an old industry competitive in the global market, and turned workers into knowledgeable operators.

The modern industry worker: a new technology operator - Read More…

Robot journalism pushes the boundaries for what’s possible

Robot journalism pushes the boundaries for what’s possible

Robots are taking over tasks only humans used to master, like writing articles and taking pictures. They relentlessly gather information or photograph the same subject hundreds of times.

Robot journalism pushes the boundaries for what’s possible - Read More…

3D technology breakthrough pushing up product development tempo

3D technology breakthrough pushing up product development tempo

3D printers have been in the spotlight for a long time. They represent technology which now looks like it is having its breakthrough. This is not only about printers becoming cheap enough to buy for private individuals. It is about a completely new production technology which represents the opposite of the way industries produce products today.

3D technology breakthrough pushing up product development tempo - Read More…

New production methods could revolutionise entire industries

New production methods could revolutionise entire industries

Norwegian Thinfilm has just developed a revolutionary technology, printing electronics straight onto a plastic film at their plant in Swedish Linköping. It makes it possible to develop intelligent labels which can tell whether a product is being stored at the right temperature, and much more.

New production methods could revolutionise entire industries - Read More…

Norway lifts Nordic gender equality

Norway lifts Nordic gender equality

For the first time ever a Nordic country has reached full gender equality in the Nordic Labour Journal’s gender equality barometer. The barometer reflects the gender balance in 24 different positions of power in the Nordic societies. After a change of government last autumn, Norway has now reached 22 points. 20 points is needed for full gender equality.

Norway lifts Nordic gender equality - Read More…

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