In the field outside Trondheim, 16-year-olds Vilde Eid and Abdubashir Mohammed bend over and pick strawberries.
– Are you good at picking, Abdubashir, what do you think yourself?
– Yes, I think so, but she’s better then.
He nods at Vilde.
– Ha ha, yes, I just want to finish it. I only do it for the money.
They can, if they are really good, earn up to 400 kroner an hour. Most likely, only Eastern Europeans will reach that efficiency.
– THE FARMER OUTSIDE OVER THE MORE THAN HUNDRED PICKERS: Olav Opland says there are three Norwegians on an Eastern European picker, but now he is literate on the Norwegians. Photo: Øyvind Hermstad / TV 2
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Three Norwegians on an Eastern European
The strawberry farmer on Byneset outside Trondheim is well used. For decades, he has used Lithuanians and others from Eastern Europe. They are very motivated, says Olav Opland.
– There is a difference between Norwegian young people as well, but the adult workers from Eastern Europe are very motivated, because what they earn here is perhaps their income for the rest of the year. So I usually say that there are three Norwegians on Eastern Europeans.
– THIS YEARBOARD FROM TRØNDELAG: Some pickers come up to 3-400 kroner an hour. Photo: Øyvind Hermstad
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But as we all now know, many of the traditional pickers cannot come to Norway due to the pandemic. And Olav Opland suddenly became completely dependent on the help from NAV in Trondheim.
– It would not have happened here, I do not think we would have had this year’s crop without NAV, says Opland.
He collaborates with market consultant Torild Wedøy to get enough Norwegians to want to work in the field.
Volunteering rather than coercion
Wedøy has sat every day like Saturday and communicated with new applicants. It began to hurry to get Norwegians out into the field. She says they chose to advertise the jobs rather than ask specific unemployed people to take on the job.
– Picking strawberries can be tough physically, and then I think it is better to focus on volunteering than coercion.
– BETTER TO WORK THAN SLEEP: Abdubashir, originally from Somalia, is not dissatisfied with standing up. Photo: Øyvind Hermstad / TV 2
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Earlier this year it emerged that NAV had picked out ten people to harvest asparagus on Nøtterøy. Five of them showed up – the remaining five left the workplace by the end of the day.
Wild Eid confirms that the job can be quite hard physically. But the 16-year-old thinks it’s nice to get to know others, and have a good chat while picking.
“I think I would have just been in bed sleeping if I was at home,” says Abdubashir.
40 percent increase
It has become increasingly difficult for Norwegian youth to get a summer job. Automation and robotics have erased some traditional summer jobs. But the two pandemic areas have given many young people a chance.
Figures from NAV show that from January to May this year, 32,500 summer jobs were advertised. A nearly 40 percent increase from 2019, with 23,500 advertised summer jobs.
Almost half of these jobs are in the health and care sector, but also service occupations, agriculture, forestry and fishing.
The work manager is not happy with that number. CEO, Ivar Horneland, encourages his member companies to offer more summer jobs now that society is recovering, and is opening up more and more.
Virke is the main organization for the trade and service industry. Earlier this year, many of the companies reported that they had fewer summer jobs than before. Now they have the chance to turn this number around, the director believes.
– It is so important to give young people an opportunity to start working. We can, for example, use the offer that the authorities launched this year, a subsidy scheme where the employer and the state agree to pay the salary.
So far, the figures indicate that around a thousand young people have found work during this measure.
Missing employees
Line Enger (15) has her very first job as a breakfast watchman at the newly opened Quality Hotel Ramsalt in Bodø.
– What many may think is a bit boring I think is fun, says Line.
– I like to socialize, and chatting with the guests is very nice.
– SMILING BREAKFAST: Line Enger (15) enjoys her first summer job Photo: Roy Arne Salater
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Line is responsible for cleaning up, the dishes, and then she goes to the guests in the breakfast room.
Her boss, Kine Willumsen, says that the job does not require that you have turned 18, or that you have an education or long work training.
– We need people who smile, Willumsen emphasizes. And adds that the great tourist pressure means that the hotel lacks staff.
The hotel manager believes that the young people must have an understanding of where the money comes from, that it is created and does not come from Vipps and mum and dad.
– Do not tilt every time
In Trondheim, NAV’s representative stands in the field and tastes this year’s berries, and looks out over the sea of young pickers. Some of them in the first job of their lives.
– I want to encourage parents not to tip every time the young person asks for money, says Torild Wedøy. It is so important that the young people get the work experience, and I have faith in Norwegian youth, that they get to this here.
Wedøy talks about great interest from young people and students when the jobs were advertised. The fact that the army with more professional workers from our neighbors in the east stays at home gives Norwegians a unique opportunity to prove what they are good at.
– HAPPY FOR THE COMPANY: 16-year-olds Vilde and Abdubashir thrive in each other’s company. Photo: Øyvind Hermstad / TV 2
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– Are Norwegians a little too lazy?
– Yes, I think so, says Vilde.
– Are you here in three or four weeks?
– I hope so, but am not entirely sure.
Vilde laughs a little, both she and Abdubashir are completely new to the subject. The summer is still long.
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