Jobs, Jobs And More Jobs!

Anyone listening to today's TV or radio cannot escape the constant promises of those who have the solutions, as they promise to  create jobs for the needy. Apparently, we in the USA are not alone with the problem of unemployment.

More than 100 young Swedish people from Söderhamn, located about 250 kilometers north of Stockholm, have  left  town to seek their fortunes in Sweden’s neighbor to the west, according to Sveriges Radio (SR)  Most of them have found work immediately! Something which they weren’t  able to do in the Swedish town of about 12,000 residents.

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Oslo street scene

Söderhamn resident Andreas Larsson had been out of work for two years before taking advantage of the program and now works as a truck driver in Oslo, Norway!
”I came here on a Thursday and had a job by Monday morning. It went that fast. It felt almost unreal, like I’d come to the promised land,” he told SR.

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Swedish youth ,who are unable to find work, are being paid to leave the country! They are being offered a month-long preparation course, then  free travel to Oslo, Norway. There, they  receive a month of free accomodation and the aid of a job-finding organization to help them find their new work in Norway, all government sponsored.

Swedish girls work at the bakery.

 Oslo’s location close to the border has made it a popular destination for Swedes, whose presence is especially noticeable in the city’s restaurants and cafes. Many of the available jobs are those unwanted by Norwegian youth, who are reported to be “picky” about their opportunities.

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 A Swedish official of the program stated:
“We’re not sending them away; we’re helping them take a step forward and to have a richer experience, and hope they will return to Sweden in the future.” The Swedish government has failed to achieve its main goal of reducing the number of people who are inactive in the job market. Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a government statement that the overall goal is to create conditions for more jobs. He added that “over one million people are inactive from the job market. Despite strong growth, there is mass unemployment.”

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Swedish doctors have also been leaving their Swedish positions and relocating in Norwegian hospitals. Norway has a great need for specialist physicians and offer the new doctors an attractive schedule of two weeks on-duty followed by four weeks of off-duty at the same pay-rate as the full-time hospital physicians in Norway. When asked how this could be happening, Stein Tronmoen,  the head of a Norwegian hospital stated “ In Europe, there is a free market, and we are a member through the EEA. That’s just the way it is.”
A small Norwegian country hospital has almost only Swedish doctors on its staff. Most have come from the same clinic in Sweden, seeking more attractive employment terms in Norway.

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During political debates in the spring, the government pointed out that Sweden has gone through a deep financial crisis. However, the country has emerged as one of Europe’s strongest economies, thanks to government policies. Reducing  unemployment has been the government’s most important objective.

But, why this migration to Norway?

Norway remains  number one, edging its Scandinavian neighbors atop an annual list of countries ranked according to wealth and well-being. Norway remains the most prosperous country in the world, according to a recent study.
In the 2012 Prosperity Index published by the London-based Legatum Institute, Sweden climbed to third place,up from fifth place in 2011. Norway, meanwhile, maintained its hold on the number one spot, while Denmark came in second. Published annually for the last six years, the Prosperity Index ranks 142 countries based on criteria in eight categories including economic strength, health, education and government. The United States has dropped out of the Prosperity Index top ten for the first time, dropping to twelfth place .

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Even burglars in Norway are busier. Burglaries rose by eight percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year. They are finding  Norwegians have more and more valuables in their homes. Norway’s high standard of living is tempting for organized criminals from Eastern Europe.

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But goods are expensive and prices are high in Norway. In order to save money, Norwegian shoppers are streaming over the border in record numbers to avoid hefty domestic prices by  stocking up on groceries... in Sweden. The price differences between Norway and Sweden on popular goods like alcohol, tobacco products, chocolate, and sweets are at a  very different rate.

A large shopping center, the Nordby Center on the Swedish side of the border, posted record sales results this summer. Located just off the motorway from Oslo, Nordby is always crowded with Norwegians and is much bigger than any shopping center in Norway, as stated in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten .
Over the last four quarters, Norwegians spent a total of 11.7 billion kroner ($2 billion) in Swedish stores, according to Statistics Norway.

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An interesting thought is that Sweden can place their youth in Norway to find a job, and earn a wage. That worker can board a bus to travel over the border, returning to Sweden to shop for cheaper goods. Their kroner earned in Norway is spent in their home country of Sweden.

The Border Crossing between Sweden and Norway

Sounds like a winner for everyone, and an interesting solution to finding a job.