ILPC 2026

In 2017, it is 13 years since the first major EU-enlargement when Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary incorporated into the single market. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined and Croatia in 2013. The EU enlargement gave Norwegian companies new opportunities for recruiting labour, and has led to a great influx of workers and companies. During these years, Norway has experienced the largest immigration flow ever,   from approximately 6 000 Eastern Europeans settled in 2004 to nearly 160 000 in 2017.

A large majority of these workers are recruited to low-skilled jobs in construction, manufacturing and private services (cleaning and hotels and restaurants). The immigration has challenged the system and norms in the Norwegian labour market, and “social dumping” has become a central theme in the public debate. Central actors, like the trade unions and the Labour Inspectorate, have warned against a development towards a more divided labour market. Low wages, long working hours and poor health and safety standards are hallmarks of social dumping. The immigrants are often also subjected to more insecure types of employment (hired through temporary agencies or directly engaged on at temporary basis)

In this paper, we will elaborate Norwegian employer’s use and experience with Eastern European labour in a period of 11 years.  We have monitored the situation in construction, manufacturing and hotel and restaurant. Managers in a representative samples have been asked a series of questions about this theme in surveys conducted in 2006, 2009 and 2017.

In the same period, several measures have been introduced to combat exploitation of these workers. The regulations can be regarded as attempts to prevent a more profound division of the labour market, between “insiders” and “outsiders”, or a dualization of the labour market. One of the most effective measure is the extension of collective agreements. Following these extended collective agreements are rights for trade union representatives to inspect wages and labour conditions for employees of sub-contractors. In additions, a contracting enterprise is obliged to ensure that sub-contractors stick to the regulations. Furthermore, contractors are joint and severally liable for wage obligations of sub-contractors.   

The research question in this paper is:

- Has the motives for recruiting Eastern Europeans changed during these years?  Do we for example see a higher degree of "normalization", i.e. that Eastern European workers are increasingly employed under the same conditions as Norwegian?

-What is the companies’ experience with central regulations introduced in the aftermath of the enlargement of EU/EEA?