Increased unemployment benefit rates during the pandemic have led to laid-off people not working hard enough to get a new job, Innlandet NAV director Bjørn Lien fears.
The authorities increased unemployment benefit rates as one of several corona measures, as many workers were laid off during the pandemic.
Lien told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that he thinks the measures were right at the time but that the situation now is completely different. He pointed out that many industries are looking for workers – and fears that increased unemployment benefit rates have made it less attractive for laid-off people to apply for jobs.
“The unemployed have become too focused on, for example, the increased unemployment benefit rates and less preoccupied with getting up and looking for a new job,” the NAV director stated.
LO position
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) does not agree with Lien. Regional manager Iver Erling Støen in LO Innlandet believes that the redundancy scheme, the unemployment benefit scheme, and the sick pay scheme have been important tools during the pandemic.
He highlighted three focus areas that can get people back to work: a strong update of labor market measures, education, and skills development.
From January 1, two special corona schemes for laid-off workers will be abolished: the maximum period for unemployment benefits will not be extended, and the rate will be reduced.
“The consequences for those who are still laid off will, in the worst case, be that they lose their jobs and that they switch to a lower unemployment benefit rate,” Parat shop steward at Travel Retail Norway, Linda Iversen Norbeck, told NRK.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayFinance
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