Lack of information limits import of labor to Norway
Despite the financial crisis, Norway has great demand for engineers, health professionals and information technology (IT) experts, but few are aware of the job opportunities here, according to a new report.
The reason is limited available information abroad and stiff international competition, the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) states in the report.
“We need IT specialists and health care workers but there is international competition for the qualified experts,” an UDI official said to Aftenposten. She also said that the fact that jobs abound in Norway is not well known abroad.
“Norway is not well known and poorly profiled as an attractive labor market,” says project manager Marit Viggen.
“Norwegian companies are absent at foreign universities where other countries are active in capturing the best students. At a Moscow university dedicated to oil and gas studies, which Statoil sponsors, neither Statoil nor other Norwegian companies were listed as future employers,” she added.
She also pointed to the difficulty in finding information about job opportunities in Norway, both online or through other channels, underlining this as another negative factor.
She stressed, however, that Norway is an attractive country to work in as it provides high wages, good living conditions, regulated working hours, professional development, social security and personal safety. Nature and outdoor activities are other important aspects that would draw and motivate foreign job-seekers to work in the country, she added.
“The cold climate, long distance and language barriers were the only negative factors that could keep workers away from Norway,” Viggen said.
Meanwhile, the Immigration Directorate (UDI) also reported a 37 percent drop in the number of foreigners seeking work permits in Norway from 3,486 in January 2008 to only 2,210 in the same period this year.
Source: NorwayPost.no
