News
EU directive gives Nordic platform workers new hope
Mar 25, 2024 The EU platform work directive is in place at last. It should help platform workers in the Nordic EU countries who work for companies like Foodora and Wolt to secure decent working conditions. In Norway, this was solved at the start of this year through a change to the working environment act.
Editorial
Socially excluded young people, a key issue across the Nordics
Feb 29, 2024 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.
tema
Danish Royal stardust for youth jobs in Esbjerg
Feb 29, 2024 ”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.
tema
Employment specialist helped Norwegian Julia (17) find her dream job
Feb 29, 2024 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.
tema
Iceland: Work is better than therapy for vulnerable youth
Feb 29, 2024 “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.
News
Immigrants struggle to find work in the Nordics despite labour shortages
Feb 29, 2024 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.
tema
Considerable local differences in Sweden's efforts for NEETs
Feb 29, 2024 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.
News
Threats to Swedish social service workers: New inquiry proposes stricter legislation
Feb 29, 2024 Threats and harassment against public officials in Sweden are commonplace and on the rise. This has major consequences for individual employees and risks undermining democracy in the long term. A new public inquiry proposes stricter penalties for violence towards public officials as well as making it a crime to insult public officials.
News
Unexpected delay of the EU platform directive
Feb 29, 2024 There is a race against time to land the EU directive on platform work. In December, it looked like the issue was being solved, but then nearly half of the member states’ governments gave it a thumbs-down, including the Finnish and Swedish ones.
News
Karen Ellemann: All of the Nordics in Nato “positive in every way”
Feb 05, 2024 The Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers believes Nordic cooperation will be even stronger when all of the Nordic countries are Nato members. But during the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Karen Ellemann repeated that a council of defence ministers is not presently being planned.
Editorial
Border barriers – a Sisyphean task?
Feb 03, 2024 In both the Nordic region and the EU, there is a rising number of complaints about the open labour market not being as open as we thought. Is this a warning sign, or is it a consequence of people moving more and businesses expanding their operations?
tema
Aiming for full mobility in the Nordic region’s largest labour market
Feb 02, 2024 The Öresund Bridge is 25 next year, yet despite the good commuting opportunities it offers there is still a way to go before the Nordic’s largest labour market is fully integrated. This year, Sweden holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and greater mobility in the Nordic region is a top priority.
tema
How the EU deals with border barriers
Jan 27, 2024 The EU also has programs working on removing border barriers. The best-known is Solvit, a problem-solving network which can be found in every EU/EEA country. Citizens and businesses can use this free service if they believe a country is in breach of EU rules and legislation.
tema
Nordic Freedom of Movement Council gears up to banish border barriers
Jan 26, 2024 The Nordic region aims to be the world’s most sustainable and integrated region by 2030. To achieve that, we need to change gears, facilitate trade and focus on removing the remaining border barriers, says Anders Ahnlid, the new Swedish representative on the Nordic Freedom of Movement Council.
tema
Immigrants in Sweden queue up to work in Denmark
Jan 26, 2024 While Copenhagen suffers labour shortages, Malmö has high unemployment. But for many third-country nationals on the Swedish side of the border, Danish work permit requirements are so high that cross-border commuting is made impossible. This issue is a priority for the Freedom of Movement Council, while an EU project is also looking for solutions.
tema
Freedom of Movement Council rids Nordics of some 90 border barriers
Jan 26, 2024 Since 2014, the Nordic Freedom of Movement Council has helped get rid of nearly 90 border barriers between the Nordic countries. But the Council members are not running out of work – there are still plenty to get on with.
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