The State of Hiring in Norway
2025 Edition
Part of the “State of Hiring in Scandinavia” series
Executive Summary
Norway’s labour market faces a paradox.
The NHO Kompetansebarometer 2024 shows that around six out of ten companies (62%) report an unmet need for skilled labour.
At the same time, thousands of qualified professionals—particularly immigrants and international graduates—struggle to secure relevant employment.
The data suggests that Norway’s talent shortage is not a lack of competence, but a failure of access.
Hiring remains dominated by informal networks, cultural expectations, and subjective notions of “fit.”
Equality is legislated; meritocracy is optional.
1. Demographics and Labour Supply
Like its Nordic neighbours, Norway faces structural demographic pressure.
The fertility rate has been at historically low levels, around 1.4 children per woman in 2023–2024, one of the lowest ever recorded in Norway. 1
Net migration–driven population growth in Oslo was 64% lower in the first half of 2024 than in the same period in 2023, according to Oslo Business Region’s “Oslo Outlook Q2 2024” (1,280 people vs. about 3,600 the year before). 2
SSB’s 2024 population projections show that by 2035 there will be more people aged 67+ than children under 18, and the number of elderly will grow much faster than the working-age population. 3
These shifts coincide with high demand for workers in healthcare, construction, IT, and green technology. Yet unfilled positions persist for months or years.
2. Employers’ Perspective: Reported Shortages and Economic Cost
2.1 Employers’ Reported Shortages
Source: NHO Kompetansebarometer 2024, NAV Bedriftsundersøkelse, Abelia
NHO’s competence surveys show that a majority of firms in all regions struggle to recruit people with the right skills, and many report prolonged vacancies.4
However, Fafo’s qualitative research reveals a different subtext: many recruiters did receive applications but screened them out early due to “uncertainty” regarding foreign qualifications, Norwegian language level, or lack of local references. 5
2.2 Economic Cost of the Paradox
OECD’s Economic Survey of Norway 2024 underlines that raising employment among immigrants and other under-represented groups would increase Norway’s long-run GDP, and that better use of existing skills is essential for growth as the population ages. 6
Conversely, persistent vacancies in critical sectors cost the economy billions of kroner in lost value creation each year, especially in health, care, and technical occupations where shortages are most severe. 4 6
NHO’s 2024 outlook warns:
“Kompetansemangelen er nå den største trusselen mot verdiskaping i Norge.”
“The competence shortage is now the greatest threat to value creation in Norway.” 4
3. Candidates’ Perspective: Discrimination, Underemployment, Exit
3.1 Bias and Discrimination
New empirical evidence from late 2024 confirms that bias is not only present but measurable.
A major field experiment summarised in Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning and popularised by forskning.no found:
Applicants with foreign-sounding names (particularly from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia) had around a 32% lower probability of being called to interview than equally qualified applicants with Norwegian-sounding names.
The penalty was larger in the private sector, where callback differences approached or exceeded one-third. 7
The study describes this as an “ethnic hierarchy” in callbacks, even when CVs are identical.
Research from UiO’s Centre for the Study of Professions and related projects on “cultural fit” in recruitment concludes that requirements for “perfect Norwegian”, “social fit” and “team culture” often act as proxies for ethnicity and class, enabling discrimination to occur without explicit reference to origin. 8
In practice, bias occurs before the law applies—in sourcing and short-listing, where oversight is weakest.
3.2 Immigration, Retention, and Exit Trends
Despite years of “talent attraction” programmes, retention remains poor.
Oslo Business Region (2024) documents a sharp decline in net migration-driven population growth to Oslo (64% lower than the previous year), and flags tighter labour market conditions and barriers for non-Nordic talent as key risks. 2
SSB analyses on overqualification show that a far higher share of immigrants with higher education are overqualified for the jobs they hold than in the rest of the population; in some immigrant groups around four in ten are overqualified, compared with roughly the mid-teens among non-immigrants. 9 10
The state continues to fund programmes like Sammen om jobb to help foreign-born jobseekers “build local networks” and understand Norwegian work culture, but these initiatives rarely change how employers design or run their recruitment processes. 11
4. How Hiring Really Works in Norway
4.1 The Hidden Job Market
Norwegian labour-market actors frequently talk about the “skjulte jobbmarkedet” (hidden job market).
NAV and research environments like Fafo note that a large share of jobs are filled via personal contacts, recommendations, internal candidates and direct approaches, rather than through openly advertised vacancies. 5 12
Older NAV and newspaper analyses suggested that a substantial minority—possibly around four in ten—jobs were not advertised at all, and later guidance for jobseekers continues to stress networking as the most important channel. 12 13
Employers explain that “knowing someone” reduces perceived risk.
“For oss handler rekruttering om tillit, ikke bare kompetanse.”
“For us, recruitment is about trust, not just competence.” — HR manager, Fafo interview5
This trust-based hiring favours insiders and excludes outsiders, particularly recent arrivals who lack Norwegian references and alumni networks.
4.2 Informality and Hiring Culture
Academic research describes Norwegian hiring as low-formalisation, high-discretion.
According to Fafo’s report Diskriminering i ansettelsesprosesser, many managers admit that job postings are sometimes “formalities” used to satisfy internal policy or public-sector requirements, while a preferred candidate is already identified. 5
“Vi legger ut stillingen fordi vi må — men vi vet ofte allerede hvem vi vil ha.”
“We post the job because we have to — but we often already know who we want.” 5
These practices mirror findings from Danish and Swedish studies, confirming a regional pattern where “cultural fit” and familiarity often outweigh objective criteria.
5. Structural Causes
The outcome is a systemic bottleneck: jobs circulate among those already inside.
5.1 International Comparison
Patterns in Norway mirror its Nordic neighbours. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland all exhibit:
Heavy reliance on informal networks and internal candidates.
Proven name-based discrimination in field experiments.
Minimal regulation of recruitment processes.
A growing mismatch between legal equality and lived access. 5 7 11 14
However, Norway’s dependency on oil, energy, and specialised engineering makes labour mobility particularly critical. When skilled foreigners leave, the cost and lead time for replacement are high.
6. What Has Been Done So Far — and With What Results
6.1 Legal and Institutional Framework
Norway’s Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act (2018) prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotion, and pay and imposes a duty of active equality efforts on employers.
However, it does not regulate recruitment design.
No law mandates structured interviews, anonymised screening, or universal public posting of vacancies.
The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (LDO) has repeatedly pointed to this enforcement gap. Annual reports emphasise that most complaints concern individual cases, and informal recruitment practices make discrimination hard to prove and sanction. 15
“Mangelen på formelle prosesser gjør diskriminering vanskelig å bevise.”
“The lack of formal processes makes discrimination hard to prove.” — paraphrased from LDO assessments 15
6.2 Government and Organisational Responses
Public initiatives focus on integration (changing the candidate) more than on recruitment reform (changing the process).
Sammen om jobb, funded by the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi), pairs immigrants with mentors and employers through courses and work-practice arrangements. Evaluations show that participants gain networks and better understanding of Norwegian work life, but there are no binding requirements on participating employers to adjust their hiring processes or track outcomes. 11
Inkluderingsdugnaden (the Inclusion Dugnad), launched in 2018, set political goals for increasing employment among people with reduced functional ability and gaps in their CV. Government evaluations show increased awareness and some good examples, but limited measurable impact on the overall employment gap for immigrants. 16
Meanwhile, Norwegian universities continue to graduate international students.
Follow-up studies from HK-dir show that only a minority of non-EEA graduates are employed in Norway within a year of graduation, and an even smaller share work in jobs that match their education level, with lack of networks and employer hesitancy frequently cited as reasons. 17
7. Policy Proposals: Towards a Merit-Based Future
Experts increasingly argue that inclusion cannot rely on goodwill alone.
A Fafo policy brief on recruitment recommends introducing clearer process standards, partly inspired by the UK Civil Service Code and other structured-recruitment models. 10
Key proposals include:
Anonymised first-stage screening for all public and major private employers, removing name, age, and country-of-origin signals from initial CV review.
Structured, criteria-based interviews with the same questions for all candidates and documented scoring, so decisions can be audited if challenged.
Mandatory posting of all permanent roles in open channels before hiring, limiting the scope for purely network-based appointments.
Regular equality audits tied to procurement eligibility or public funding, shifting the burden from individual complainants to system-level monitoring.
As Fafo summarises:
“Lovverk skaper rammer, men rettferdighet oppstår først når prosessen er designet for det.”
“Legislation sets the frame, but fairness arises only when the process is designed for it.” 10
8. Conclusion
Norway’s hiring system is caught between its egalitarian ideals and its social reality.
Employers cite a lack of qualified applicants, yet qualified candidates exist—excluded by informal, trust-based hiring and cultural gatekeeping. To resolve the paradox, Norway must move from cultural familiarity to competence evidence as the foundation of recruitment.
Without structural reform of how hiring is done—not just what the law says—the country risks legislating equality while perpetuating exclusion.
Statistics Norway (SSB) – articles and statistics on fertility and births (showing historically low fertility around 1.4 children per woman in 2023–2024). https://www.ssb.no
Oslo Business Region – Oslo Outlook Q2 2024 (PDF), section on population and migration. https://www.oslobusinessregion.no/uploads/documents/Oslo-Outlook-Q2-2024-EN.pdf
SSB – National population projections 2024–2100 (including projections showing more people aged 67+ than under 18 around 2035). https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/folkemengde-og-befolkningsendringar/statistikk/nasjonale-befolkningsframskrivinger
NHO – Kompetansebarometer 2024 (main article and report, published June 2024). https://www.nho.no/tema/kompetanse-og-utdanning/artikler/2024/06/kom-an-2024/
Fafo – Diskriminering i ansettelsesprosesser (report on discrimination in recruitment). https://fafo.no
OECD – Economic Surveys: Norway 2024 (chapters on labour market inclusion and productivity). https://www.oecd.org/economy/norway-economic-snapshot/
Midtbøen, Arnfinn H., et al. – field experiment on ethnic discrimination in callbacks (”det etniske hierarkiet”), summarised in Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning and by forskning.no. https://www.tidsskriftet.no / https://forskning.no
University of Oslo – Centre for the Study of Professions – research on recruitment, “cultural fit” and bias in Norwegian workplaces. https://www.uio.no
SSB – “Hvor mange innvandrere er overkvalifisert?” (article analysing overqualification among immigrants with higher education). https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/sysselsetting/artikler/hvor-mange-innvandrere-er-overkvalifisert
Fafo – policy notes on recruitment and inclusion (recommendations on anonymised screening, structured interviews, and audits). https://fafo.no
IMDi – Sammen om jobb (programme description and evaluations). https://www.imdi.no
NAV – Bedriftsundersøkelsen and guidance material on recruitment and the “hidden job market” (skjulte jobbmarkedet). https://www.nav.no/no/nav-og-samfunn/statistikk/arbeidsmarked/bedriftsundersokelsen
NAV / job-search guidance – materials describing the “hidden job market” and advising jobseekers to use networks and direct contact. https://www.nav.no
Nordic and international comparisons – e.g. OECD and Nordic Council publications on labour-market integration and ethnic discrimination (used for regional context in section 5.1). https://www.oecd.org / https://www.norden.org
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (LDO) – Annual Reports 2023–2024 and thematic pages on discrimination in working life. https://www.ldo.no
Regjeringen.no – evaluations and policy documents on Inkluderingsdugnaden. https://www.regjeringen.no
HK-dir (formerly SIU) – analyses of international student outcomes and transition to Norwegian labour market. https://hkdir.no