Fewer young Norwegians choose to enter the construction industry

building industryBuilding industry.Photo Pixabay

While employment in the construction industry increased by 11% between 2008 and 2014, the number of young Norwegians within the industry went down.

Migrant workers were responsible for the growth, according to a Fafo research group report.

Nearly 80% of the growth came via recruitment of foreign workers, wrote Dagsavisen. The proportion of Norwegian construction workers fell from 88% to 80%, and the number of Norwegians under 23 years of age who were applying for jobs within the industry had declined.

The report showed that Norwegians under 23 years of age were also the group that to the greatest extent had left the profession.

Union Secretary of the Fellesforbundet, Per Skau, believes that so-called ‘social dumping’ and labour crimes have been responsible for making the industry less attractive to the young.

‘The figures are serious. And if we continue to compete on cheap foreign labor, I think the development will intensify. Foreign workers should still be in the business, but they must be integrated into the Norwegian model’, he said.

Recruitment from vocational education schemes is important for the industry, according to the Fafo report. There has been a decline in the number of apprenticeships in the building and construction sector. Since 2013, there was a marked fall in the number of students applying for the subject.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today