Almost half of the layoffs announced last week in Norway concern the accommodation and catering industry in Oslo (1100 people) and Viken (1300 people), reports NAV.
In the previous week (week 49), NAV received layoff notices affecting 5200 people. In addition, NAV received notifications of mass layoffs affecting around 200 people. The statistics do not show how many temporary layoffs or layoffs are actually carried out.
– We see that there are reports of layoffs concern in particular the accommodation and catering industry in eastern Norway. Additionally, there are a few companies that account for a large share of reported layoffs, says director of labor and social welfare Hans Christian Holte.
Alerts that affect at least 100 people account for 44 percent of reported layoffs. In the case of industries, the hospitality business is responsible for 6 out of 10 announced layoffs (3200 people). Industry is the second largest sector, with 1100 job losses.
10 times more than the average week
number of people affected by layoffs last week is more than 10 times greater than the average week in the last six months (490 people). At the same time, it is slightly lower than when infection control measures were tightened the most earlier in the pandemic.
For example, in the fourth week of this year, NAV received dismissal notices that affected 9 people, while the week with the highest number at the start of the pandemic affected more than 000 people.
Only companies that are considering temporary layoffs or layoffs of 10 or more people must notify NAV. 10 percent of notifications last week were related to less than 10 people.
Several applications for unemployment benefits
The number of applications for unemployment benefits has also increased over the past week.
Over the past week, NAV has received 3600 applications for unemployment benefits. This is about 1000 more than the average week over the past six months. If we compare with previous unemployment spikes during the pandemic, we do not see any significant increase in actual layoffs so far, says Holte.
Source: NAV
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