Skip to main content
European Commission logo

Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
National reforms related to transversal skills and employability
Norway

Norway

14.Ongoing reforms and policy developments

14.5National reforms related to transversal skills and employability

Last update: 17 December 2024
On this page

2024

Skills reform for working life

The Skills Reform Committee ('Kompetansereformutvalget') was established in June 2023 and will present its report in January 2025. The committee has been mandated to investigate how the social partners can better facilitate restructuring and learning in the workplace, given the overarching goals of high stable employment, counteracting increasing inequality, and ensuring the skills the workplace needs.

 

2023

Policy efforts to meet future challenges

In the Perspective Paper (“Utsynsmeldingen”), the Norwegian Government sets out the direction for future skills policy, with a focus on what kinds of expertise Norway will need in the coming years. The main challenges are to ensure that Norway has the necessary expertise to meet the challenges of the future, and to reach as many people as possible with education and knowledge, regardless of place of residence, background and finances.

To meet these challenges, the Government will among others:

  • develop a skills reform in collaboration with the social partners in working life
  • invest in skills to get more people into work by developing a closer cooperation between the counties and the labour market authorities
  • make it easier to get student loans for short courses, and continue the investment in a flexible and decentralized education offer and in study centres.
  • prioritize the skills that are needed in the sectors of IT, health and green transition

 

2022

Skills reform

The Norwegian skills reform Learning throughout Life (“Lære hele livet”), which started in 2020 and is still being implemented, has two goals:

  • All Norwegian employees should have up-to-date skills.
  • The Norwegian working life should have a supply of the skills it needs. 

Making access to educational loans more available to adult students, a public, free online career service, and legal regulation of the counties’ duty to offer career guidance and are among the measures in the reform. To improve the system of further education and training for working life and make it more flexible, the Government has allocated funding for sectorial programs and flexible further education for employees.