Labour Market

  • Iceland’s crisis

    The money, the assets – have they all evaporated? Once upon a time there was a tiny country – an island – far out at sea, west of Scandinavia, east of the large American continent.

    5 minutes
    Iceland’s crisis

  • 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

  • Finland’s system of “job alternation” becomes permanent

    The popular Finnish system of “job alternation” will continue. The system proved so popular and efficient the government decided in September to draft a law to make it permanent.

    2 minutes
    Finland’s system of “job alternation” becomes permanent

  • The deaf TV editors

    In a crisis those on the peripheries of the labour market suffer the most. Who wants to invest in a deaf or deafblind when the future of the company hangs in the balance? ASVO in Bergen, Norway, does exactly that.

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    2 minutes
    The deaf TV editors

  • Knowledge bank to help young outsiders

    By 2013 the European Solidarity Foundation (ESF) will have funded 1,000 projects in Sweden alone aimed at young workers and those who fall outside the labour market. The resulting know-how is taken further by The Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs and the Employment Service with their project “Young Workers”.

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    2 minutes

  • Pay cuts – a shortsighted strategy

    With the economic downturn unemployment has become a real threat to Nordic workers. Many are prepared to stretch far to keep their jobs, including taking voluntary pay cuts. But pay cuts do not necessarily solve a business’ problems, and could prove to be a bottomless pool.

    2 minutes

  • Class decides young adults’ options

    Social background plays a major part when young adults consider their chances of fulfilling their professional dreams. Old structures go and the individual takes centre stage, forcing people to carry responsibility for their own success or failure. No matter where you work, the group matters less and less.

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    4 minutes

  • Iceland: light at the end of the tunnel?

    When faced with an economic crisis, Icelanders used to simply buckle down and work harder for a while. Now they’re faced with the unusual situation of having no jobs to go to. This economic crisis has hit everybody hard, and especially the unemployed.

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    7 minutes

  • Making new welfare policy in the US

    Can conditional cash payments help your kids stay in school or do well on tests or help families beat the poverty trap? It was proven successful in Mexico, New York City is testing it now, and Britain’s Gordon Brown is watching closely to see if there is something to learn.

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    7 minutes

  • Reaching the fringes – a more including working place

    Never before has the Nordic labour market been in such good shape. 2008 will be the best year ever for newly qualified jobseekers with higher education. But there are still large groups on the fringes of the labour market. These are groups who need a different approach. Denmark trains mentors who look after those in…

    1 minute
    Reaching the fringes – a more including working place