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1/7/13

Swedish Youths Are Norway’s Migrant Workers - by Barbro Plogander

An impressive employment rate have made Norwegian youths unwilling to take unskilled jobs. This is good news for Norway’s eastern neighbor Sweden, which has a 25 percent youth unemployment rate. Swedish municipalities now organize job-finding trips to Norway in order to battle local unemployment.

Ostersund in the Swedish northwest is a case in point: Located 160 miles from the Norwegian city of Trondheim, the local employment agency looks to its wealthy neighbor in the west to find jobs for its youth.

“We arrange recruiting trips to Trondheim,” says employment officer Tina Tuomi. “We rent buses, and unemployed youths can book a seat for free. We usually have them twice a year.”

In Trondheim, the youths attend a work fair at a major hotel, where they bring their résumés to different employers and their representatives. They also typically visit a few local companies. Several employment officers from Trondheim also visit Ostersund to recruit Swedes.

Tuomi says, with some pride, that Ostersund has less unemployment than the national average. “I don’t know if this is because so many people go to Norway. It could be the case,” she said.

In Norway, the young Swedish migrant workers typically keep their living expenses down by sharing apartments. They take jobs in stores, bars, day care centers or on assembly lines—all jobs that Norwegian youth shun.

According to media reports, Norwegian employers appreciate the attitude and work ethic of the Swedish youth.

Read more: Swedish Youths Are Norway’s Migrant Workers | Europe | World | Epoch Times

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