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Norwegian companies crying out for skilled workers

Construction workerConstruction worker

Six out of ten Norwegian NHO companies lack employees with the right expertise. In particular, there is a shortage of ‘craftsmen’ showed NHO’s expertise barometer.

 

The annual competence barometer,which was presented on Tuesday, showed that NHO companies are struggling to recruit people with the right skills. This leads to lost customers and market shares, or the closure of planned extensions. 40% of companies answered that they have a lack of expertise.

“When we know that we have to create 600,000 new jobs by 2050, we can not say that businesses must say no to enterprise because they lack people. Then we will not get enough jobs,” said acting managing director, Ole Erik Almlid to NTB news.

Crafts-workers wanted

As in previous years’ surveys, it is primarily people with crafts subjects who are lacking in Norwegian business.62% of companies stated that they need more employees with vocational education, especially in engineering and industrial production, construction and electrical engineering.

Secondly, there is a 53% demand for vocational education.Moreover, 42% of companies demanded employees with a bachelor’s degree, 34% with a masters, and seven per cent needed PhD students.

“This shows that the education system is unable to deliver the skills the companies need,” said Almlid.

He said the lack of people with vocational backgrounds has been developing over time, and it is important to take action both in order to recruit more young people into vocational subjects, and to create more vocational study places.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today