Employment Rate Potential In The Nordic Countries

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2021-520/ Major changes in technology, economic contexts, workforces and the institutions of work have ebbed and flowed since well before the first industrial revolution in the 18th century. However, many argue that the changes we are currently facing are different, and that the rise of digitalized production will entirely transform our ways and views of working. In this collaborative project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, researchers from the five Nordic countries have studied how the ongoing transformations of production and labour markets associated with digitalization, demographic change and new forms of employment will influence the future of work in the Nordic countries.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-501/ This research report is part of a project examining how to increase labour force participation among vulnerable groups (young people, seniors, immigrants, and disabled people) in the Nordic countries. The purpose of this report is to provide a description of the vulnerable groups in the Nordic labour markets and analyse differences in labour force participation among these groups. We find that no country outshines all the others regarding labour force participation for these vulnerable groups. This highlights the fact that cross-country learning and collaboration can be fruitful in the future. In the forthcoming phases of this project, we will identify relevant barriers that lead to labour market exclusion and develop a method to group people, according to these barriers. The aim is to formulate policy recommendations to improve the labour market attachment among vulnerable groups.

The Nordic future of workHow will work and working life in the Nordic countries change in the future? This is the question to be addressed in the project The Future of Work: Opportunities and Challenges for the Nordic Models. This initial report describes the main drivers and trends expected to shape the future of work. It also reviews the main distinctions of the Nordic model and recent developments in Nordic working lives, pointing towards the kind of challenges the future of work may pose to the Nordic models. Too often, debates about the future narrowly focus on changes in technology. This report draws attention to the broader drivers and political-institutional frameworks influencing working life developments, aiming to spur debate about how the interaction of changes in demography, climate, globalization and digital technologies may influence Nordic working lives in the coming decades.

The large influx of migrants to Nordic countries in recent years is challenging the adoptability of Nordic labor market institutions while also adding to potential growth. This paper examines the trends, economic drivers, and labor market implications of migration to Nordic countries with a particular focus on economic migration as distinct from the recent large flows of asylum seekers. Our analysis finds that migration inflows to the Nordics are influenced by both cyclical and structural factors. Although migration helpfully dampens overheating pressures during periods of strong demand, and over the longer term will cushion the decline in labor supply from population aging, in the near-term unemployment can rise, especially among the young and lower-skilled. The analysis highlights the need to adapt Nordic labor market institutions in a manner that better facilitates the integration of migrants into employment. In particular, greater wage flexibility at the firm level and continued strong active labor market measures will help improve labor market outcomes among immigrants.

Engelsk tekst. 109 s., hf., 1999. (TemaNord 1999 ; 597)

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-513/ This report is the second report in a research project examining how to increase labour market participation among vulnerable groups in the Nordic countries. In this report we develop a framework over employment barriers that vulnerable groups face in the nordic countries, based on an extensive targeted literature review. The purpose of the framework is twofold. First, we hope it can be a tool for practitioners to identify and address the broad range of barriers to employment that vulnerable groups potentially face. Second, the framework will be useful in future phases of this project, when we will operationalise and measure the prevalence of the barriers among vulnerable groups in the Nordic countries and analyse relevant and promising policies to help individuals with certain set of barriers.