"For us, recruitment is about trust, not just competence."
When "trust" becomes the criterion, it creates a proxy for ethnicity and class.
Employers trust people who look like them, talk like them, went to school with them.
Understand how hiring really works.

"I was told I was overqualified—but what they meant was that I wasn't Danish enough."
Half of foreign engineers in Denmark report being rejected for jobs below their qualifications due to "cultural fit" concerns.
Not lack of credentials or experience. Lack of Danishness.

By 2035, Norway will have more people over 67 than children under 18.
To survive Norway needs immigration.
But international graduates finish Norwegian universities and leave. Skilled professionals arrive and can't get hired in their field.
You can't build an economy on excluding the people you need

Norway's competence shortage is "the greatest threat to value creation."
Healthcare, construction, IT, green tech—all need workers.
Qualified people applied. Employers rejected them for "uncertainty" about qualifications and lack of local references.
This isn't a supply problem. It's gatekeeping

NAV and Fafo confirm that massive portions of the job market operate through personal contacts and direct approaches.
This is why integration programmes fail. They teach immigrants to "understand Norwegian work culture" while doing nothing to change how employers hire.

Many respondents report being rejected on the grounds of “fit.”
As one foreign professional put it in Yle’s reporting on workplace discrimination:
“Even after years in Finland and fluent Finnish, I’m still asked if I’ll ‘fit in’. What does that mean?”

buff.ly/kGvv3VG

"For us, recruitment is about trust, not just competence."
When "trust" becomes the criterion, it creates a proxy for ethnicity and class. Employers trust people who look like them, talk like them, went to school with them.
Understand how hiring really works.

Four in ten jobs in Norway are never advertised publicly.
NAV and Fafo confirm that massive portions of the job market operate through personal contacts and direct approaches.
When you don't have local references or networks, how do you compete for jobs you never see?

Norway has a talent shortage.
Norway also has thousands of qualified professionals who can't get hired.
The "shortage" exists because hiring happens through mechanisms that favour insiders, like referrals.
You can't have a talent crisis and exclude talent at the same time.
buff.ly/sacwk5k

Norway has a talent shortage. 62% of companies report unmet skill needs. Norway also has thousands of qualified professionals who can't get hired.

This isn't about competence. It's about access.

open.substack.com/pub/unbiased...