Committee fears corona pandemic is pushing young Norwegians out of the workforce

A government-appointed committee tasked with assessing the impact of the corona pandemic on the Norwegian economy fears the pandemic has permanently pushed young people out of the workforce.

Minister of Finance Jan Tore Sanner (H) received the first interim report from the committee on Friday. 

The committee will submit its final report in the first quarter of 2021, the Ministry of Finance wrote in a press release.

In addition to the problems for young people in the labor market, the report also points to redistribution between generations due to the large sums that have been used to keep the Norwegian economy alive. 

This money has come at the expense of what we can use later, according to the committee.

In need of restructuring

In the report, the committee also points to a need to restructure the Norwegian economy, emphasizing that future measures must be introduced to support the restructuring. 

Furthermore, the committee warns that temporary crisis measures may support inactivity instead of innovation if maintained for a long time.

“We must direct our resources towards industries where there is potential for growth and innovation and not tie them up in activities that may prove to be less adapted to future needs. 

Crisis measures that can slow down the restructuring of the economy must be phased out early in the upswing phase,” the committee’s leader Jon Gunnar Pedersen noted.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today