Theme
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Finland demands strong language skills
Finnish can be a difficult language to learn. Many immigrants have found out the hard way. To get a job you need very good spoken and written Finnish. It is crucial to invest in language skills in order to fully take part in Finnish society.
4 minutes
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Staffing agencies challenging the Nordic model
From time to time ‘The Great Debate” over the role of staffing agencies rolls out in the Nordic countries, despite the fact they provide a only a small percentage of the workforce.
9 minutes
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Black market cleaning a major problem for Norway’s cleaning industry
Are staffing agencies just one step on the road towards an even more flexible labour marked, where those performing services become their own employers? NHO Service, the employers’ organisation for Norway’s cleaning industry, is sounding the alarm over an increase in cleaning businesses from 2,000 to 6,500 over just a few years.
2 minutes
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EU directive on temporary agency work could reduce social dumping
Trade unions believe the EU directive on temporary agency work will see fewer staffing agencies pushing down salaries and working conditions.
5 minutes -
Unique collective agreement for Sweden’s staffing agencies
Staffing agencies in Sweden are experiencing a boom. In the last quarter of 2010 turnovers were up 42 percent on 2009 figures. Staffing agencies do however provoke conflicting feelings and staffing was one of the key themes during the latest collective bargaining process.
8 minutes -
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.
3 minutes
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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.
5 minutes -
“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…
7 minutes
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The Nordic region: approaching equality step by step
Nordic women have been an inspiration for the fight for gender equality in other countries. Between them they have filled all but two of the positions of political power: no Nordic country has as yet had a female arch bishop or a female commander-in-chief. Meanwhile both the President and Prime Minister in Finland are women.
5 minutes
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Denmark still waits for a female prime minister
Few countries have been so mentally prepared for a female prime minister as Denmark. The political TV drama Borgen has been a great success, also in neighbouring countries. It portrays a female prime minister and the power struggle at Christiansborg, the Copenhagen palace which houses parliament, the Prime Minister’s office and the supreme court.
2 minutes