Norway’s shortage of engineers seems to be flattening out. Around 4,200 engineers have arrived or been recruited from abroad just in the last two years, according to new figures from state statistics bureau SSB, and pay growth is slowing as well.
Knut Sunde of trade association Norsk Industri told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) that the total number of foreign engineers now in Norway rose by 40 percent to 15,000 from 2010 to 2012. He says the relatively substantial labour immigration is now being felt, leading to “more moderate” pay growth within the field.
FMC Technologies in Kongsberg is among the companies that has hired many foreign engineers from 61 countries, who now make up around 500 of the 3,600 employees at FMC, which is itself a foreign firm, based in the US. “The reason has been the scarcity of Norwegian engineers,” personnel chief Olav Sandvik told DN. The company has actively recruited immigrant labour from Scotland, Portugal, Poland and Russia.
Meanwhile, the labour immigration Norway has experienced in the construction industry reportedly is prompting Norwegian youth to shy away from the building branch. A study conducted by the Institute for Social Research shows that fewer Norwegian youth are studying the building trades, because of competition from workers from Poland and other eastern European countries who also can be more willing to settle for lower wages.
newsinenglish.no staff
