A new study by recruiting firm Proffice indicates that many companies actively seek extra help from overseas, and that Swedes between 18 and 25 years of age are most popular.
"There are a lot of fine young Norwegians, but there also are more of them who lack a strong work ethic," Proffice's managing director Per Bergerud told newspaper Aftenposten. Some who sought summer jobs even made it clear that they also expected to be able to take summer vacation during their seasonal working period. That wasn't popular among potential employers.
Workers coming from other countries, however, are proving more reliable and eager. Among them is Matilda Magnusson, age 20 from Sweden. She's working as a waitress at an Oslo pub.
"It's difficult to get a job in Sweden, plus we can earn SEK 40 more an hour in Norway," Magnusson told Aftenposten. "Personally, I think the tips are better here, too."
United Bakeries in Oslo has hired many bakers from France and many stick around. "We get twice as much pay here, so I stayed an extra half-year for the money," said Antoine Boelle, age 22. All his colleagues at the United Bakeries where he works in Lysaker are French.
There are more than 100,000 foreigners with working permission in Norway at present in addition to the Swedes, who don't need working permission. Nearly 50,000 workers from Poland are active in the building branch, while Danes are popular in the hotel industry, Germans are working as doctors, nurses, architects and engineers and French are most often found in bakeries, restaurants and high-tech firms.
