Record number of announcements, but more are without work over time – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
Although unemployment in Norway is declining, there is concern about the number of long-term unemployed.
At the same time, there is now a record number of vacancies.
Never before have there been more vacancies on arbeidplassen.no. Nav estimates that before the end of the year, 500,000 vacancies will have been registered in 2021.
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Labor and Inclusion Minister Hadia Tajik is concerned about the long-term unemployed. She announces new measures.
– What worries me about these figures is almost 50 percent of those who are jobseekers, they have been unemployed for over a year. We know that the longer people are out of work, the harder it can be to get in.
The budget work for 2022 is not finished yet, but Tajik says this will be a focus for the new government.
– For this government, it is important to strengthen the labor market measures, wage subsidies and qualifying schemes that make people return to work.
A historic opportunity
Deputy leader of the Conservative Party and parliamentary representative Jan Tore Sanner believes the government now has a unique chance to help more people into the job.
– Now we have a historic opportunity to get a lasting boost in employment in Norway. It is good for people who come to work, it is good for welfare in Norway, but it requires that the government has full pressure on education and competence policy, says Sanner.
Here, he believes the Hurdal platform is not clear enough, and misses several concrete measures that will ensure that people have the skills that working life demands.
– The government has some concrete measures for Nav, but otherwise they are very unclear. I am afraid that the measure is most specific, namely to reduce the staffing industry, will make it more difficult to get to work.
The Conservative government itself proposed in the budget to reduce the allocation for labor market measures by NOK 580 million.
However, Sanner believes that the main challenge is the companies’ demand for skills other than those of the unemployed, and that the answer is thus skills measures.
– The most important are the educational measures and the competence measures.
– Ensure serious working life
– Now the Labor-led government has been sitting for about ten minutes. It is a little too early to report that one is worried about what kind of investment this government will have, Tajik responds to Sanner’s concern.
– There are several places on the platform, both in working life and in school and education, highlighted how important it is that we contribute to more people getting to work.
The Minister of Labor and Social Inclusion says it is important for the government to help Norwegians who want a job to get the opportunity to do so.
At the same time, they want to ensure secure pay and working conditions.
– It is important to me that there are safe jobs they go to. That there are orderly wages and working conditions, serious companies, and there I experience that the Conservative government has done far too little to ensure serious working life. This will be one of the priorities of the Labor Party.
– A joy to stand up
22-year-old Håkon Bakkeskau is among the lucky ones. He finally got a job in an improved labor market.
He is now a substitute as a weight operator at the Bjorstaddalen waste facility in Skien.
– It is a joy to get up in the morning and know that now it is work. It’s delicious, he says.
The fact that there are now a record number of vacancies, he believes, can make a difference for many, if they are willing to see opportunities.
– If you are not picky, and take what comes, then you get to work very quickly, he says to inspire others in a similar situation.