The work ethic in Norway was the subject of last year's research. They were conducted by prof. Wojciech Nowiak from Uniersytet in Poznań. They lasted for 4 months, during which 100 people working in Norway were interviewed. The research methodology was an interview - no questionnaires were used due to the wish to remain anonymous.
The Polish community in Norway is several hundred thousand people
According to data collected by the Norwegian Statistical Office (Norwegian SSB), the Polish diaspora in Norway has approx. 100 people. people. Unfortunately, we are talking about completely different numbers. According to the latest estimates, nearly 300 people have already arrived in Norway. Poles. Regardless of which amount is the truth, they both make it clear - we are the largest group of immigrants in this country. Last year's research by prof. Wojciech Nowiak, they tell us what we really think about working in Norway.
Low level of trust
According to prof. Wojciech Nowiak, while conducting research, encountered the problem of trust among the Norwegian Polish community. Based on the most frequently occurring doubts, one can formulate the following question: “Can I trust you? Is the survey really anonymous? "I wouldn't like to tell Norwegians about all this." The Poles surveyed often emphasized the fact that the answers provided could not identify them as interlocutors. Therefore, they preferred a face-to-face interview, which made it impossible to use any questionnaires.
Work ethic in Norway? Poles work without a contract
The topic of working without a contract aroused the greatest emotions. The most puzzling answers were the reasons why Poles were employed illegally. It turns out that in many cases it was Norwegian employers who put such pressure on Polish employees. They agreed to the conditions for a simple reason - they wanted to earn as much money as possible during their stay in Scandinavia. They were also afraid of losing the ability to earn any money.
Poles in Norway and NAV
The answers regarding benefiting from the Norwegian social welfare system are also puzzling. While Norwegians have a very bad opinion of foreigners who abuse the possibility of receiving various types of benefits, in practice the Poles surveyed rarely used them. As stated by prof. Wojciech Nowiak – “Most Poles have never received any funds from NAV and never expected such help. During the conversation, they said that you should be honest with those who work really hard. At the same time, they realize that other foreigners abuse Norwegian social welfare. They also criticize the fact that the system is too open to everyone and, in their opinion, this is the reason for abuses.”
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Employee rights at a high level
Despite the fact that some of the respondents were employed illegally, Poles appreciate the Norwegian regulations on employee rights. In their opinion, this is due to the fact that entrepreneurship in Norway has been developing for much longer than in Poland. This allowed for the development of appropriate law that protects the interests of employees. During the conversations, it was also often stated that employee abuses do not occur very often in Norway.
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Work ethic in Norway - the subject of criticism
While Poles praise Norwegian workers' rights, they are more critical about ethics in Norway. Prof. Wojciech Nowiak in his studies cited the example of one Polish woman with whom he spoke. She worked as a dental assistant and when she started, two more Norwegians were employed in addition to her. After some time it turned out that the Polish woman was making standards for everyone and the employment of other workers became redundant. As a result, they were dismissed, and their duties were delegated to a Polish woman. All for the same remuneration as she has been charged so far.
Poles work hard and long
Prof. Wojciech Nowiak in his study also explains why the questioning of 100 Poles took as long as four months. His observations showed that the low level of trust was not the only reason, but also practical considerations. Poles work for a very long time, often until 19 p.m., and they don't get home until around 00 p.m. For this reason, it was possible to conduct a maximum of one or two interviews during one evening. An additional difficulty was the fact that Poles also worked on Saturdays for the same long time.
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Polish women working in hotels
It also turns out that Polish women account for a large percentage of employment in Norwegian hotels. Prof. Wojciech Nowiak used the beds in facilities located in Tromsø and Bodø. In his opinion, it was difficult to find a hotel enterprise that would not employ even one Pole. The interviews with Polish women show one conclusion - all Polish women felt appreciated and motivated to work hard and learn the Norwegian language. In their opinion, this method of operation pays off from the point of view of professional development.
Work ethics in Norway and discrimination
Some of the interviewees were also subject to discriminatory behavior. According to the interviews conducted, such cases most often occur in the construction industry. The work ethic in some plants was low, as were the terms and conditions of employment. As it turned out, such enterprises employed mainly foreigners, without even a single Norwegian. An interesting fact is that if only two or three Norwegians started working in one place, everything improved significantly.
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Work ethic in Norway - how is it today?
Bearing in mind the above research, the question itself arises - what is the work ethic in Norway today? A year ago, Poles appreciated workers' rights, but at the same time criticized the level of ethics in enterprises. Employees from our country spent most of the day at work, leaving home around 20:00. A lot of Polish women found employment in Norwegian hotels who were satisfied with where they are currently working. They agreed that hard work and learning Norwegian pays off in terms of professional development.
Unfortunately, there were also discriminatory behavior. According to the interviewees, there were poor working conditions in many places and they concerned only enterprises employing foreigners. Interestingly, everything improved significantly when the Norwegians came to work. According to prof. Wojciech Nowiak, research is still required on the family life of Poles in Norway.
Prepared on the basis of: Polakker mener nordmenn har dårlig arbeidsmoral at forskning.no
Źródła:
- Wojciech Nowiak, Stein Kuhnle and Dominika Narożna: «Migrant family. The image of the family on the basis of research on Polish immigrants in Norway » Migrants families. The experiences of Poles in Norway, tidsskriftet Research Papers of Wrocław University of Economy, 438/2016. Sammendrag in English.
- Wojciech Nowiak, Ragnhild Louise Muriaas and Dominika Narożna: «Nordic model of supporting families with insufficient childcare. Analysis of the situation of Poles and their families in Norewgia »(Nordic model of aiding dysfunctional families in childcare. An analysis of the perception of the situation of Poles and their families in Norway), tidsskriftet Research Papers of Wrocław University of Economy, 456/2016.
- Wojciech Nowiak, Cornelius Cappelen and Dominika Narożna: "Internal migration in the EU and EEA and the problem of illegal labor market. Analysis of the situation of Polish immigrants living in the Hordaland district"(Internal migration within the EU and EEA vis-à-vis black labor market. An analysis of the situation of Polish immigrants living in Hordaland county), tidsskriftet Przegląd Politologiczny (Political Scienc Review), 3/2016.
