Labour Market

  • Jørgen Kosmo, Labour Party, Norway

    Bottlenecks in the labour market?  With such an open economy as that in Norway and the dramatic technological developments we are experiencing, we must go in for great adaptability in working life. An education/training system that quickly detects the need for different types of labour force and adapts itself to that need will be a…

    3 minutes

  • The Nordic Ministers of Labour

    The issue of the supply of skilled labour is high on the agenda in the Nordic countries, as well as that of getting everybody on track for the new knowledge-based society. We have put four questions to the Ministers responsible for labour market policy in the Nordic countries, in order to hear their views on…

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    1 minute

  • The hunt for skills

    A central feature of developments is the hunt for skilled personnel. Developments are taking place so fast that it is necessary for people to constantly upgrade their knowledge. For instance, it is estimated that there will be three generations of technology during a graduate engineering course. The various countries are now going in for skills…

    3 minutes

  • Electronic jobs service attracts new visitors

    In 1999, the Norwegian jobs website had 47 million hits. This was more than a quadrupling in terms of the previous year. In Sweden too, there is a great amount of interest in its jobs website, Platsbanken. On any day, 100,000 persons visit the site and read 600,000 adverts for jobs. The Swedish system will…

    2 minutes

  • A Nordic strategy for maintaining a supply of labour?

    As with the rest of Europe, the labour force in the Nordic countries will change in the future. There is a great risk of a future lack of manpower. Therefore discussions will start between politicians and the social partners regarding future manpower requirements. The challenge is to find strategies that cover future manpower needs, without…

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    3 minutes

  • Nordic PESs cooperate effectively – but continued obstacles to a true common labour market

    «The public employment services (PESs) in the Nordic countries cooperate effectively when employers are looking for labour from neighbouring countries. Contacts are made easily and trustfully, and are based on confidence and familiarity. » So says international director Peter R. Myklebust, of the Norwegian Directorate of Labour.

    4 minutes