“Norway’s Monaco” mayor with unusual move to get nurses to the municipality – Dagsavisen
BØ (Dagsavisen): In January, Bø in Vesterålen advertised for vacant nursing positions at the municipality.
But with a nursing shortage, there is a battle for the warm hands.
That is why mayor Sture Pedersen (H) himself has taken to social media and made his first promise of the year:
He comes himself and packs up the home.
– We will have a good time
“The first nurse who moves to Bø with her family, I will come and pack with you. We will have a good time, we will pack well, and we will move you safely to our wonderful municipality, Bø,” he says in the video.
Pedersen says there is a big battle for several professional groups, and in this case they are trying to make themselves attractive to nurses.
– We receive a good number of inquiries. Last night, I spoke to some people who live in Oslo, who are talking about moving north. So we try to catch them and get them north, he says, and explains that of course they also cover all moving costs.
The movie on YouTube has at the time of writing been viewed 1,200 times, and the post on his private Facebook account has been shared over 100 times so far.
There have been no concrete applications, but Pedersen says they have around 12 to 14 people who have been interested, with whom they will have direct contact.
– We want to follow them up in a serious way. I small municipalities have a number of bigger challenges than larger municipalities, but in this case, like applications, we can be closer to the applicant to make ourselves interesting, he says.
– Then I know that I will be a bit nervous when the mayor makes contact. They are probably not used to that on a daily basis, he laughs.
Create attention
He does not hide that the measure is to create attention.
– It is also the case that we have taken a number of measures apart from the mayor offering to be involved in the packing. We have a focus on providing facilities for nurses, but also other professional groups. Many people have now talked about how it has become expensive to live in Norway. It can be profitable to look to the north, he advises, and says, among other things, that there is a free nursery school and birth allowance to attract special young people to the village.
Because of the demographic development in Northern Norway, more people young people move than arrive in the regionand Pedersen says that as a municipality they must try to find solutions themselves.
Bø municipality and Pedersen have attracted attention several times in recent years, with other measures to attract new residents. The most famous is the cut in wealth tax, which caused several rich people to move to the municipality, including former skier Bjørn Dæhlie and Europris founder Wiggo Erichsen. It gave them the nickname “Monaco of Norway”.
– We do not shout at the state. We want to stand on our own two feet. We want to have a municipality like Bø in the future as well, and then we must dare to give something special, he says, which in this case is packing up the housing for the next nurse in the municipality.
– But are you serious? Are you going to Oslo or Kristiansand, if that is the case?
– It’s serious. I saw someone who had taken me abroad, so it is with a slight reservation if I have to travel far. But if it’s here in Norway, I’ll have to travel, he says, and explains that it’s not just a gimmick.
– I will join you in the house, pack and tidy up, to get this done properly.
[ Ukjent artist underholdt på forsinket fly – nå er det kjent hvem hun er ]
[ «Norges Monaco»-ordfører om lakseskatten: – En kamp mellom by og land ]
Keep yourself updated. Get a daily newsletter from Dagsavisen