At the same time as 200,000 are looking for jobs in Norway, Norwegian companies are experiencing a shortage of 46,000 employees – almost half of them in health and construction.

However, the shortage has decreased in recent years, according to the NAV’s business survey for 2021.

In 2020, Norwegian employers lacked 50,750 workers, while the number in 2019 amounted to 59,450.

The number is still higher than what the NAV had expected for 2021. 

“As society has been partially shut down during the corona period and unemployment is high, we expected that the companies would have fewer recruitment problems. 

“But among other things, increased pressure on the health service and travel restrictions for hired labor from abroad contribute to the shortage of qualified labor still being high,” adviser Audun Gjerde at the NAV stated in a press release.

Shortage of industrial workers, engineers, ICT workers…

Health, nursing, and care are missing 13,500 workers, while construction is missing 9,000.

“It is not news that there is a demand for skilled labor within these occupational groups, but the demand has increased from last year to this year,” Gjerde added.

There is also a shortage of 6,550 industrial workers and 5,450 engineers and ICT workers.

A total of 28% of companies in Norway have laid off employees, most of them in Oslo, where 36% had to lay off workers, according to the survey. 

However, 60% of the companies reported unchanged employment during the pandemic. The northernmost counties have been least affected.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayFinance

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