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Nordic/Scandic (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark) Employment Legislation Employment legislation in Sweden and Scandinavia are probably some of the more restrictive in Europe, based on the principles of the socialist style of the governments. The employees' rights are well protected. As in Holland and France, officially the Scandinavians have a system that gives both the employee and employer a trial period, normally 6 months, during which, the notice period for both sides can be immediate. After the trial period i.e. during full time employment, the notice period is regulated by law and takes in to account age, employment time, etc and typically ranges from 1-6 months. After which, unless the employer can prove that the employee has shown gross misconduct or a serious breach of contract, it becomes difficult to remove or dismiss them. Availability of Trained Staff. Sweden in particular is known for generating strong engineering and technical graduates. Most Scandinavians do not start work until their early twenties. Scandinavia typically has a strong socialistic and democratic culture that promotes group and consensus type of values. This does not promote a vast resource of strong business minded entrepreneurs and/or skilled sales professionals. However, in general there is a strong belief in high -tech and IT as tools to increase productivity, gain competitiveness, etc. This has for some time attracted particularly US based, but also other high-tech and software companies, which to some extent has created a limited community of very skilled businessmen and sales professionals. Cost of Employment The additional costs to employers including full sick pay the first two weeks, 25 days paid vacation (in practise 27-33 days for demanding positions) pension, insurance, social and sometimes medical. These all add up to make Scandinavia one of Europe's more costly areas of employment and it is not unusual for up to 55% to be added to the employee's salary package in order to budget for HR expenses. Commercial Property costs are quite cheap compared with the UK, Germany and France, and there is a reasonable availability of good standard office space. Language and Cultural Factors All nationalities speak remarkably good English and are as happy to work in English as in their native tongues. Generally, there are no real conflicts between individual nationalities and they interact and work well together. Scandinavians are typically very dedicated, hard working, open and honest with a great sense of ownership. Travel and Communication The vast majority of New Technology Companies are based in and around
Stockholm, Sweden, however other cities are also popular such as
Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki. Due to the distances involved, most
travel is undertaken by air with excellent reliable services all
over the region. |
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