Drop in unemployment in Norway in July

Monthly figures from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) have revealed that the number of job seekers in Norway fell to just shy of 150,000. 

Overall, unemployment fell by 5,500 compared to June when adjusted for seasonal variations.

According to NAV, the drop in the number of job seekers in July is due to the easing of pandemic restrictions. 

“The decline in the number of jobseekers continued in July, in line with the softening of infection control measures,” Director of Labour and Welfare at NAV, Hans Christian Holte, said in a statement. 

Around 3.5 percent of Norway’s workforce is currently unemployed. 

READ ALSO: Nine tips for finding a job in Norway

The industries that saw the most significant reductions in unemployment were the travel and tourism sectors, and the area to receive the biggest boost in employment in July was Oslo. 

Live events industry suffering shortages following mass exodus 

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, almost one-fifth of all stage technicians in Norway have left the industry since March 2020. 

Now those in still working in the sector are worried that should Norway lift all measures, live events would face a massive shortage of technicians.

Figures from the Industry Association for Stage Production (BFSP) revealed that 19.4 of all permanent employees had left the industry since March last year. 

“I think everyone in the industry lost their spark during the lockdown. It is difficult to go without work for such long periods,” Morten Buvik, general manager of the Sound Team in Bodø, Northern Norway, told trade union newspaper Klassekampen.

Top Norwegian firm offering letters of recommendations to unsuccessful applicants 

One of Norway’s most prestigious firms is offering some applicants who get to the final round of the interview process, but aren’t selected, letters of recommendation to help them in their job hunt. 

Norges Bank Investment Management, which handles Norway’s oil fund or, Government Pension Fund, will offer applicants who make it to the final interview stage of its graduate scheme letters of recommendation to help them in their job hunt.  

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, has said the move was inspired by a zoo in Kristiansand, Southern Norway, which offers all applicants who didn’t make the final cut a letter of recommendation to help them in the job-hunting process. 

In a post on LinkedIn, Tangen said that he hoped this would help empower young job seekers.

Norway’s sixth richest man says wealth tax will put companies off employing more people

Salmon baron and Norway’s sixth richest man, Gustav Witzøe, has warned against a wealth tax proposed under a potential red-green coalition.

Witzøe, the owner of Salmar, one of the worlds largest salmon breeders, has said that the proposed tax will put wealthy owners off from expanding their companies workforces. 

“It depletes the company of resources- which prevents you from preserving jobs or developing new ones. It does not make sense,” he told financial site E24.

The proposal from Norway’s red and green parties would see ultra wealthy individuals subject to much higher taxes than they currently are.

Witzøe said that this tax would also put Norway at a disadvantage on the world stage and said he would consider moving his company’s head offices to London or Cyprus, where taxes are lower. 

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More than half of workplaces inspected in Norway are in breach of the Working Environment Act 

More than half of the 5,000 workplaces union LO have inspected this summer have revealed a breach of the Working Environment Act. 

This summer, 58 percent of all premises inspected have been found to be breaking employment rules. 

The reason for this, according to the union, is due to the Covid-19 epidemic in Norway. 

“A year with many unemployed and laid-off people can probably lead to many accepting worse working conditions than they are entitled to, Bjarne Lagesen” from LO told online news site Nettavisen.

Young people, particularly, have fallen prey to shoddy work practices. Every sixth summer employee under the age of 18 is working without a contract. In addition, the union has seen an increase in the number of employers monitoring employees with cameras with workers permission.

Did you know?

Norway doesn’t actually have a national minimum wage. But that does not mean your employer can get away with paying you whatever they want.

While wages in Norway are respectable, people who have recently moved to the country may be surprised to learn that there is no official general minimum wage.

Instead, wages tend to be agreed though negotiations between trade unions and individual employers or employer organisations (tariffavtale). In Norway, a country of about 5 million people, 1.4 million workers were covered by a tariff agreement in 2015, according to data from Statistics Norway.

In addition, the tariff agreement also regulates working hours, overtime, holidays, pensions and rules regarding temporary layoffs.

For more on this read: Why Norway doesn’t have a national minimum wage and how fair pay is ensured

Useful links

Below you’ll find a couple of useful articles, guides and resources put together by The Local which cover key aspects of working life in Norway. 

What are the perks of working in Norway?

Five things foreigners should know about income tax in Norway

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Please get in touch with me at [email protected] to let me know if this weekly feature is useful and any suggestions you have for jobs related articles on The Local Norway.