Theme
-
Job-related Swedish language training boosts employment
Several larger municipalities in Sweden are making Swedish lessons for immigrants more targeted to the labour market. Language lessons are mixed with practical learning. Örebro municipality west of Stockholm represents one example where vocational education is mixed with language lessons.
6 minutes
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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 -
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…
3 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
-
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