Nordic Labour Journal

06/08/2026

In a small village in southern Finland, used textiles are turned into new felt products that are being sold both locally and internationally. The Vilikkala company is one example of how the green transition can be a success far from the big cities. New skills emerge through the course of the work.

A key issue for the Nordic project Future Skills: Bridging the Competence Gap, which the Nordic Network for Lifelong Learning NLL has been involved in, is how new skills emerge when the labour market changes through digitalisation and the green transition.

Vilikkala is in many ways a concrete example of exactly that.
Camilla Lindberg is the Finland editor at the Nordic Network for Lifelong Learning NLL.

The article “From uniforms in Berlin to felt bags in a Finnish village – the green transition in action” was first published on NLL’s website.
You can now read it on Nordic Labour Journal:
https://bit.ly/4yQLgrQ

21/07/2026

While the labour market desperately needs more people, many experienced workers remain outside it after retirement age.

The Norwegian staffing agency Gammel Nok (Old Enough) says many seniors are more than happy to carry on working, provided they can do so on flexible terms with reduced working hours tailored to the workers’ preferences.

In the report “The staffing agency Gammel Nok and the mobilisation of hidden resources”, researchers Christin Thea Wathne and Anne Grethe Solberg from the Work Research Institute AFI at OsloMet in Norway look at how the transition between work and retirement feels for those who choose to take on jobs for Gammel Nok, and how the agency can contribute to making older workers want to work for longer.

Read our story: “Can a staffing agency for older people be part of the solution?”
https://bit.ly/4fKih1j

Nordic Labour Journal will keep you updated on working life in the Nordics this summer as well. Check our website from time to time.

09/07/2026

Physical and mental burnout among older workers shortens working life and costs society billions of Danish kroner annually in lost productivity, shows a new report from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA) in Denmark.

Read our short story about the report:
https://bit.ly/44oxQFB

Nordic Labour Journal will keep you updated on working life in the Nordics this summer as well. Check our website from time to time.

06/07/2026

In Norway, the question of overtime pay for part-time employees working additional hours is far from solved, unlike in Sweden and Denmark.
A working group has now been given the difficult task of coming up with proposed solutions.

Stein Evju, professor emeritus, University of Oslo, write about it in the article “Overtime pay for part-time workers remains a difficult issue in Norway”.
https://bit.ly/4w6txuZ

Nordic Labour Journal will keep you updated on working life in the Nordics this summer as well. Check our website from time to time.

01/07/2026

Moving from silo thinking to collaboration. Moving from standardisation to individualisation. Moving from a controlling approach to a supportive one. This is what the trust principles are based on.

Louise Bringselius was head of research for the Swedish government’s Trust Delegation (Tillitsdelegationen).

“I began researching employee participation and organisational culture and discovered there was also some interesting research on trust. The problem was that this had not got much traction,” she tells the Nordic Labour Journal.

Journalist Fayme Alm writing about “The rise of trust-based leadership in the Swedish public sector”
https://bit.ly/4p0LAQv

We will keep you updated on working life in the Nordics this summer as well. Check our website from time to time.

24/06/2026

A new report shows gender equality efforts in the Nordics face wide-spread opposition which often takes the shape of harassment and threats.

Working conditions for people working with gender equality issues in the Nordic region have deteriorated considerably, according to the report “Opposition to gender equality in the Nordic countries“.

The report is written by Julian Honkasalo from the University of Helsinki and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

More in our story "Nordic gender equality workers face tough working conditions"
https://bit.ly/4vuw81q

18/06/2026

Different generations rarely end up in open conflict in the workplace.

But do not be fooled: There is irritation, misunderstandings and differing expectations under the surface, according to Øystein Bonvik, author of the new book "Four generations at work".

Read our interview with the author “What happens when Gen Z meets the Baby Boomers at work?”
https://bit.ly/44ilcYy

16/06/2026

For the first time ever, an international standard for work carried out through digital platforms like Uber, Bolt and Wolt will be covered by one international standard.

Not all the parties were equally pleased with the results and the final text. Even the Nordic countries highlighted certain issues.

Speaking on behalf of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Sweden’s Johanna Ingschold stressed that different labour market models must be respected.

New story on Nordic Labour Journal about “New ILO convention on platform work"
https://bit.ly/4er8gEv

09/06/2026

Sunniva Johanna Troll Imhof is at home on parental leave with her second child. Being a self-employed physiotherapist brings greater economic uncertainty than if she had been permanently employed.

In Norway, it is far more common for physiotherapists to be self-employed.

She calls going self-employed a “semi-conscious choice”.

“I like the freedom. When you work in a clinic you also have a lot of freedom in the treatment room.”

“I don’t think I would have been happy as a municipal employee. Being self-employed allows me to work in the way I want and to stand by my values.”

Read the full story “You can’t afford to be ill when you run your own business” in our theme about self-employed workers.
https://bit.ly/4dVPNkp

08/06/2026

Social Democrat Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen returns to her role as Minister for Employment in Denmark.

She will also be responsible for gender equality in the new government.

Social Democrat Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen returns to her role as Minister for Employment in Denmark. She will also be responsible for gender equality in the new government.