There are still bureaucratic obstacles to migration within the Nordic region. This despite the fact that the common Nordic labor market was created 70 years ago.
– Tax issues, digital identification and social security issues can still make life difficult for Nordic migrants, says senior researcher Hilma Salonen from the research institute Nordregio.
Pohjoismaiset työmarkkinat
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At the same time, there are advantages to working in another Nordic country, Salonen points out, and highlights the geographical proximity and a similar work culture as examples.
– But the bureaucratic obstacles need to be resolved to make it easier for those who move within the Nordics, says Hilma Salonen.
– It is important that people who commute between two Nordic countries can trust that it is easy to cross borders and that the traffic connections work. During the pandemic, it came as a shock to many in Tornedalen, for example, that the border could suddenly be closed, says Hilma Salonen.
The big move is still visible in relationships
The common Nordic labor market was created 70 years ago. Over 400,000 Finns used the opportunity to come to work in Sweden.
Today, the EU and globalization have widened the labor market and interest in moving within the Nordic region is low.
– The remarkably large movement of labor from Finland to Sweden is a phenomenon whose history is still visible in several ways in the relationship between the two countries, says senior researcher Hilma Salonen from the Nordregio research institute.
Nordregio has recently published a report about the 70-year-old common labor market.