Jobless rate may be artificially low
March 6, 2013
Norway has enjoyed low official unemployment rates for years but confusion is emerging over the actual numbers of persons without work in Norway. Some economists wonder whether the current unemployment rate is actually higher than reported, since not all members of the labour force who are looking for work have applied or qualify for unemployment [...]
Economy keeps humming along
February 5, 2013
The Oslo Stock Exchange is off to a good start this year, Norway’s currency remains super-strong, unemployment and interest rates are low and now a top labour and welfare official predicts that 100,000 more people will be employed in Norway by the end of next year. Earlier predictions of an economic downturn have been cancelled, [...]
Norway ‘attractive’ but not enough
October 18, 2012
Norway has nice scenery and has become more attractive to talented foreign workers amidst ever-growing global mobility, but can and should do much more to make the country more accessible to those it needs. That was the general consensus of experts at the second Global Mobility Forum held in Oslo on Thursday. “Norway is actually [...]
Norwegian workers work a lot
July 13, 2012
Most Norwegians enjoy relatively short workdays, at least five paid weeks of holiday a year and generous provisions for paid leave because of illness, family issues or professional training and education. Nonetheless, a new survey shows they’re among those working more than most of their counterparts in Europe. The new survey was conducted in Denmark [...]
UDI eases work immigration process
March 19, 2012
Norway’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet) has promised to finally make it at least a bit easier for Norwegian employers to secure needed talent from abroad. That’s welcome news for both employers and would-be immigrants who now face frustratingly long delays. It’s not only large industrial firms like Aker Solutions, Statoil or Det Norske Veritas (DNV) [...]
More trouble for big Oslo hospital
March 12, 2012
Norway’s largest hospital, formed through a highly controversial merger of several hospitals in the capital, is now grappling with questionable hiring practices that have led to charges of human trafficking. The case involves three nurses from the Philippines whose jobs at Oslo University Hospital were arranged though a Norwegian man to whom they became indebted. [...]
Economic refugees face tough market
March 9, 2012
Economic refugees from crisis-ridden countries in southern Europe continue to stream into Norway, but they face a hard time finding work despite Norway’s strong economy and low unemployment rate. New statistics have unveiled the fields where foreign workers are least needed. Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrøm has already warned unemployed Europeans from countries like Spain and [...]
Labour clamps down on executive pay
March 2, 2012
Norway’s Labour-led government and the head of the country’s trade union federation LO are both warning the management and boards of large Norwegian companies not to reward themselves with big pay raises. That, they argue, would ruin efforts to keep overall salary hikes moderate. The government, business and the unions are heading into annual wage [...]
Work rules issue splits government
February 14, 2012
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is facing another thorny issue that’s dividing the three-party coalition government he leads. His two government partners won’t back the latest EU directive on rules for temporary workers, while he supports it and thus may need to turn to opposition parties in Parliament that support it as well. Stoltenberg leads Norway’s [...]
Broke immigrants told to go home
January 23, 2012
Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrøm had a message over the weekend for hopeful immigrants from southern Europe who’ve been arriving in Norway in search of jobs: “Go home.” Bjurstrøm worries they won’t find jobs, and won’t be eligible for any help, either. “If there’s no work for them, then there is no work,” Bjurstrøm told both [...]
