Recruiting across borders

A building stands with one foot in Norway and the other foot in Sweden. Physically a cross-border project, this employment agency goes beyond mere symbolic gestures of straddling borders. It welcomes and helps people from both countries who seek their employment fortunes on either side of the national divide. The building is one of only two in the world to be built over a national frontier. At Morokulien 4 million people cross from Norway to Sweden or vice versa, the majority of them seeking work.. The Employment Agency Morokulien has been set up to meet their specific needs, rather than to fulfil the role of a traditional employment agency. Two people form the staff of the agency; one from Sweden, one from Norway. They set up collaborative links between employers and applicants from both countries, expanding the skills base for the former and the opportunities for the latter. While the region has unofficially shared a labour market for quite some time, this is the first initiative to capitalise on the potential of such a mobile workforce. The agency covers issues such as how to get a work or residence permit, what to expect culturally, what salaries are like and what application procedures apply. Taxation, social insurance, customs and unemployment benefit are also subjects on which the agency can usefully inform its clients. Collaborating partners include more traditional employment agencies in the surrounding regions. With their input, a fully informed and working network has been established. In the long term, the increased flexibility of the workforce is expected to contribute to the overall economic growth.