Theme
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From dirty workshop to shiny wind power factory
A group of Fredrikshamn machine assemblers and electricians are about to finish their education. They’ll leave the vocational training institute in South Kymmenedalen just before Christmas, and start work with Winwind in a new factory near the docks, making wind turbines. They are specially trained to be ready when one of Finland’s future industries is…
3 minutes -
Fresh cooperation creates new youth jobs
In the Swedish city of Västerås, businesses, higher education and the public sector are used to working together in the labour market. Now this cross-sector cooperation is about to benefit unemployed youth, through a project aimed at offering jobs and training to 1,000 young people without work.
4 minutes -
Finland’s new Aalto University: the entrepreneur factory
Finland’s new Aalto University brings together young people who want to be entrepreneurs. Their backgrounds range from technology and economics to design. The exchange of ideas here can create a platform for a new company culture in Finland.
2 minutes -
Downturn hits youth hardest – Sweden takes undesirable lead
An economic downturn often hits young people fastest and hardest. The current crisis is no exception. The Nordic countries usually boast some of Europe’s lowest unemployment figures. Now 27.3 percent of Swedish 15 to 24 year-olds are out of work.
4 minutes -
Social entrepreneurs fighting for outsiders
At Stockholm’s “Fryshuset” (the Cold Store) a 25-year-old social entrepreneurship is turning the destructive forces which often plague social outsiders to positive forces and insider status. New methods grow to meet new demands. The aim is to catch youth at risk of falling outside of society, to recognise their potential and believe in their power…
7 minutes -
From outsider to employed
Morten Skov Nielsen got a job and lots of self-confidence – and he’s growing with the task. ”It’s much better than I’d thought”, says 24-year-old Morten Skov Nielsen.
6 minutes -
Employing the last unemployed
Out of a total of 25 million people in the five Nordic countries, there are now only 422,000 unemployed. April saw the Norwegian unemployment rate plummet to 1.6 per cent. Denmark is close with 1.9 per cent. The numbers for Iceland and Sweden are somewhat higher, with 2.3 and 3.2 per cent. Finland has 6.8…
3 minutes -
Chasing nurses and sailors – Norway’s ethical dilemma of importing workers
The lack of skilled workers is a big problem in Norway, where unemployment has fallen to less than two percent. Healthcare and shipping might seem like very different sectors, yet both are trying to attract foreign workers.
5 minutes -
Labour shortage on everyone’s lips
Are we running out of manpower? After years of economic boom in the Nordic countries, an increasing number of businesses say they can no longer expand simply because there are not enough qualified people to employ. Meanwhile, a demographic problem is lurking; the large groups of people born in the 1940s are about to retire.
12 minutes -
Finland: New government wants increased immigration
Finland has one of the lowest immigration rates in the EU, while its population is ageing quicker than anywhere else in the Union. That does not bode well for the country’s future labour market. Now the new government wants to increase labour immigration. But the situation for those already in the country must be improved…
6 minutes






