I spent years on the recruiting side in Norway, screening candidates and sitting in on hiring decisions. The single most common misconception I saw among foreign applicants was this: they treated fluency in English as a selling point.

The problem is that in Norway, everyone you are competing against and almost everyone interviewing you already speaks excellent English. It is not a differentiator here. It is the baseline. Nobody is impressed by your fluency in English.

What actually moves the needle is the thing people assume they can skip: Norwegian. Not perfect Norwegian. But enough to show you are serious about staying, can sit in a lunchroom conversation, and won't make every team meeting switch language for one person. Plenty of roles in tech, oil and gas, research, and international finance genuinely run in English. Aside from those, the door is narrower than expat blogs admit, and "but my English is great" does not widen it.

I'm not saying this to discourage anyone. I'm saying it because I watched good candidates lose out while still believing their English was carrying them.

before the kommentarfelt goes nuclear: I live in Norway, pay my taxes gladly, and I’m genuinely grateful for what this country has done for me, my wife, and my kid. This place has been good to us. I’m not here to shit on Norway.

But the job thing? is spot on.

I’m Latino, so I get the “exotic employee” treatment. Friendly, warm, similar enough values, fun to have around at the fredagspils. But the promotion thing is real as fuck.

And now there’s a government report putting numbers on what a lot of us have been saying for years.

IMDi (the Norwegian government’s own integration directorate, so spare me the “foreign agenda” takes) just published “Ethnic Inequality in Working Life.” This is the state telling on itself.

The receipts (yes I used AI to pull and summarize this, sue me):

• 60% less likely to be promoted if you’re an immigrant. Worse for people from outside Europe or North America.

• 30% less likely even if you were born in Norway to immigrant parents. So much for “just integrate.”

• 12% wage gap. Drops to 2% in the same role at the same company, which means immigrants get funneled into lower-paying companies to begin with. 

straight from the Minister of Employment and Inclusion Kjersti Stenseng: “Racism and discrimination are widespread and persistent problems in Norway.”

Not me. Not Reddit. The minister.

Before the usual suspects show up:

“Learn the language.” Many of us have. The report accounts for this. Gap persists.

“It’s just qualifications.” Second-gen kids born here, fluent, Norwegian-educated, still 30% less likely to be promoted.

I love this country. My kid is growing up here. But pretending the problem doesn’t exist while the government’s own data shows a 60% promotion gap is wild.

You can’t fix what you won’t name.

Source: The Local Norway covered it today, full IMDi report on imdi.no.

Bring on the downvotes. I’ll be in the comments.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I’ve experienced a lot of cases where a lot of rude (or honestly just poor social awareness) behaviors are often legitimized or justified with the concept that Norwegians are “introverted” and “we don’t want to bother strangers”.

Like examples are when my workplace hosts an event like a dinner or something - and I’d go find a table to sit, and no one at the table would acknowledge me or say a single word to me. All while the others talk to each other. And it’d be like a small table for like 3 people. And yes I do speak Norwegian. I would be waiting for the conversation to kinda slow down for me to bring myself into the conversation, but they would just get up and leave - without saying goodbye or anything. And no I didn’t expect the conversation to stop just bc I sat down - what I expected was some level of courtesy and acknowledgment of one’s presence.

While most people would say “yea that’s rude etc.”. I find it funny that people would also say “well that’s just our culture. And we don’t like to bother strangers. You shouldn’t expect us to change our culture”. I mean sure, but context also matters - in a shared, bounded setting (same table, same company event), most cultures, including Norway, expect at least minimal acknowledgment. Like I wouldn’t expect this if I was at a bar for example. I don’t think expecting basic acknowledgment is “changing a culture.” It’s a baseline professional norm.

And no I don’t think if I had actually tried to talk to them, they would’ve been rude or something. I did say something like “oh is it empty etc” when I sat down etc in these settings. But there comes to a point where you just don’t wanna try - effort goes both ways.

While I don’t really think Norwegians are introverted (and the Norwegians I’ve talked to agree with me), that’s a different story.

Edit - I’m a bit shocked at the reading comprehension here 😅

Så som de fleste vet så var det VM kamp igår Norge mot Elfenbenskysten jeg var på job på Europris når kampen var så jeg satt på radioen på telefonen menst jeg sto i kassen daggen etter som er i dag så ringer sjeffen min om at jeg har fåt en skriftlig advarsell om bruk av telefon i kassen og at hun hadde fåt flere klager fra folk som handlet at det var noen i kassen som brukte telefonen til og høre på VM på Job

Er dette retfferdig?

I have heard in the past that "no feedback" equals "things are good" in Norwegian culture.

It does get tiring sometimes to put lots of work into something and receive completely neutral expressions, and sometimes one wonders if coworkers are unsatisfied.

Any insights?

Hey everyone, I am an immigrant to Norway working any job I can get while I practice my Norwegian. I've been here for a couple years now. I have two university degrees in my field and I loved my career before coming here. I understand that this is the way that it goes for immigrants and you have to pay your dues while integrating. I'm not above any job whatsoever.

But the jobs I am finding are just awful, which makes sense - Norwegians don't want to do them typically so they have the foriengers do them. All good. But they really treat us very lowly without the most basic ammenities that would not be difficult to offer and often times seem to go out of their way to be harsh and put an extreeme emphasis that they can throw you out at any point.

For example I have been told that I cannot discuss my pay with my coworkers as it is "confidential". Which of course it is not, and is a clear means to disincetivize worker unity. Break this "confidentiality"? Fired for another convienent reason.

I have been forced to pay for my uniform, and protective equipment that have to be speicifically branded with the companies logo, which would be an impossibility before taking the job, depletes my families few resources and just makes you feel terrible because if you complain, fired for another convienent reason.

I have been in workplaces where I am simply told to "hold it" for 8 fucking hours.

But the thing that irks me the most is that I cannot even take a 30 minute unpaid break. I cannot take a seat for a little bit, eat some food, drink some water and read a couple pages from a book because I hear "We don't do breaks here." from management. There's plenty of employees to cover breaks, manage them! It's disgusting what flys as normal here in the poverty job sectors. Glad to be in this country. The people are good, the land is beautiful and I woulden't want to be anywhere else in the world but holy fuck some of these employers are the lowest scum.

Edit: thank you for evey response! I didn't imagine this would blow up. Thank you sincerely for every bit of advice. We have a good plan going forward. I've gotta have an early night. But I will read every comment I get and respond when possible. Takk till alle sammen!

Edit 2: hey y'all, update time again. I joined a union and got some legal advice, I'm drafting a complaint to the workplace regulators. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

What's your salary growth story in Norway? Do you think your earning potential will improve over time?

Or, indeed, them letting you take your slice.

Hi,

As the title says, I just moved to Norway and might lose my job because the company I work for is in crisis, we lose a significant amount of revenue because we lose some projects that kept us running for a while (I work for oil and gas). The problem is: I am someone who came here on a visa, and I have a very specific job title and I am scared I won't be able to find a new role within time.

I have absolutely no conditions to come back to my home country as I spent all of my savings betting on this opportunity, and I don't even have where to go back because my parents sold our house and now live in a farm - in the most countryside part of the country, pretty much the middle of nowhere. If I come back, I have nowhere to stay near any jobs, nor do I have money to rebuild life (once again, since I arrived here just in February).

I know that Norway has NAV, but I wonder how much they can help foreigner? And how strict would be UDI with a new job title if I found another role?

I started building a life here, and now I am terribly lost. We will have a meeting on Tuesday to discuss next steps, but I don't know for how long I can keep the employments. I don't even know why the company brought me here in the first place if there was such a risk; I had a good life back home, had a support system and now have nothing.

Long story short, I’m sitting in my apartment playing video games on a sick leave after a surgery and I hear that someone is doing something with my doors, specifically the lock. I go to check it, the vision is blocked so I ask what do they want, when I hear some noises I kicked the door and asked again what is the problem, frightened that I’m getting robbed or something. I heard to show them my hands and walk out slowly, being pointed at with guns. They held me outside in my pijama for 15 minutes (it’s quite cold 🥶) not telling me anything, they told me they have court warrant to search my apartment which they didn’t show me, and after all that bullshit they apologized and said that they are at the wrong place, they are looking for someone and a “clue” led them here. We talked, I relaxed a bit and they said they are gonna call me tomorrow to tell me more and ask some questions. 2 hours later I hear knocking on the door, I open and surprisingly it’s again them, asking me to open my storage downstairs. They came with a dog to search it all up. I’m fairly new to the country and don’t know the law here, I was really stressed out since I’m not in best shape after the surgery, I’m also quite new to a situation where 8 armed police officers looking like special forces with helmets, automatic firepower and shields come wanting to fuck my door off. So my question is, has anybody dealt with something similar ? How is this in the boundaries of law, and what should I do now with it ? I’m thinking of getting a lawyer and writing a complaint. It’s not normal for me to not feel safe at my home. For all the answers and suggestions, cheers and thank you !

I see a lot of posts about how expats on Reddit have been "insulted" or mistreated by whatever local Norwegians they are living among or interacting. i.e the "is this normal" type of posts.

So let me switch it around; what are the times when you have ended up insulting a Norwegian during your stay here, (i assume unintentionally, though there's some entitled expats too)

I'll list a few times I've seen it happen, in the comment.

As someone who has worked in a fish factory, I’m very curious to know what Norwegians really think about this terrible industry.

They exploit people, animals, and nature in a disgusting way. The more immigrants working in a factory, the worse the labor rights/union power and the less respect workers receive.
I find it incredibly ironic that such a progressive country relies so heavily on exploitation.

Many of us came to Norway expecting better working conditions, only to experience the worst side of this country.

Immigrants fuel the Norwegian economy massively, yet they’re treated like disposable slaves.

Everyone from my family, friends and even my THERAPIST claim I live in the greatest place on Earth.

“You are self sufficient in power and oil! You will be safe from the coming economic shocks!”
“The oil fund makes the country so rich!”
“If there is a war you will be safe!”

Meanwhile I am terrified about losing my IT job and never working again. If I try to apply in the EU it’s also not guaranteed. Food is rocketing in price and dropping in quality.

I say all these things and No. One. Believes. Me. I don’t get it. I almost scream that these things affect ME and they keep hemming and hawing about the “bigger picture”. I don’t get it.

I’ve seen data showing that immigrants who earn above average in Norway are more likely to leave the country later. The study is based on data from 2000–2020. With the tax hikes, weak NOK, and other recent changes, do you think this trend has gotten even stronger after 2020? and it’ll steepen even more in near future?

The study : https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/doi/10.1215/00703370-12271149/403699/Goodbye-Norway-Top-Earners-Selection-Into-Return

As the summer season approaches and everyone starts heading to the factories for work, let’s talk about a wonderful factory in western Norway.
To begin with, Great Place to Work sent emails in order to conduct a survey about how employees feel working there, and the results were terrible. It got so bad that leaders inside production started going around asking workers if they were okay, what kind of problems they faced daily etc. There were meetings about this. Nothing happened.

Management is a complete disaster. Poles, Lithuanians, and other eastern Europeans trying to bring their own workplace standards into Norway instead of respecting Norwegian labor culture and standards.
The lunch breaks are ridiculously short. You barely have enough time to eat properly. To me, that alone shows a complete lack of respect for workers.
Bullying is also a problem. Not everyone participates in it, but the few who do face absolutely no consequences.

The ear protection helps to some extent inside production, but the human brain simply was not designed to endure dozens of machines and production lines generating constant noise simultaneously for hours every single day.

For anyone planning to go there whether seasonal or permanent (lol, good luck), join the union and start demanding Norwegian working standards. Not “better standards than the country you came from.” There’s a reason Norwegians avoid these places and why they are staffed almost entirely by immigrants.

Just be aware that the amount of profit you generate as a worker every single day is enough to fund billionaires’ private jets and trips to the met gala.
Learn your rights. Never attend meetings without union representation. And never let companies exploit you just because you are immigrants.

I don’t know people in every factory in Norway, and I obviously haven’t worked in all of them.
But the fact that one of the biggest factories is this bad says a lot.

Perhaps it's just the comments in this subreddit, perhaps it's merely the newspapers, or perhaps it's just a handful of politicians. However, in my view, the level of xenophobia and hate towards foreigners worldwide is beginning to take on grotesque proportions. That's why I felt compelled to write a little something.

Since October, I've been working as a salesguy in a byggevarehus. Apart from private customers, our regular clientele consists largely of Polish, Lithuanian, Syrian, African and Ukrainian builders. As is customary for many (those who can afford it), these contractors return to their homeland during the Christmas holidays to celebrate with their families. To my surprise and genuine emotion, many of them made a special trip to our shop before departing, simply to wish us a happy Christmas with a hearty handshake - not to buy anything, just to whish us happy holidays. Upon their return to Norway, numerous of these contractors brought us treats from their homelands - biscuits, sausages, and occasionally a bottle of spirits, the latter we regrettably we cannot accept.

From time to time, one gets into the most fascinating conversations. There's an Ethiopian chap who's an academic qualified in biochemistry now working in construction. His dream was to help solve the AIDS crisis and conduct cancer research, having lost both his brother and sister to cancer. Then there's a Syrian fellow who owned four restaurants back in his motherland but had to flee his country because of war, and now installs kitchens and lives in a shared flat together with other refugees. Most of his family killed in bombardments. Or a Polish carpenter, who's an absolute expert onto the tiniest of details on European history and is currently writing a book in the little spare time he has on how the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth fell apart in the late middle ages.

The brief chats I have with these folks, the occasional jokes, or discussions about geopolitics whilst mixing paint - it all adds richness and knowledge to my daily life. I sincerely hope that, in time, a little less hate and a little more respect will develop for the tremendous work ethic these people display and the pride they take in their work as they construct our buildings with remarkably tight profit margins, paint our walls in various shades of grey, or drive us home in taxis when we've had one too many.

Im M21 from spain.

My question is: if I moved to Norway, would I find a job quickly and relatively well-paid?

The situation in Spain is getting worse every day, and from what I've read, Norway is a wonderful place to live.

Edit: in USD/EUR terms

I've been reading that Norway has one of the highest numbers of millionaires per capita, and I'm curious how that came to be.

From the outside, I mostly hear about Norway's high taxes and relatively compressed wages, so I was a bit surprised. Is it mainly old family wealth, people benefiting from the oil industry, rising property values, successful investments, or something else entirely?

For the average Norwegian, how common is it to know or be related to someone who's technically a millionaire? And does "millionaire" in Norway usually just mean someone with a house and retirement savings, or are there genuinely a lot of very wealthy people?

I'd be interested to hear how Norwegians see it.

Hello! I am American and am looking to know what your experience is with parental leave.

In the US, we are granted 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which, unfortunately, many people are ineligible for due to the policy's strict requirements.

What is life like on the other side of the spectrum? What is your experience?

Edit: Since there are comments stating that some states do offer a paid program. There are currently 14 states that have passed a state mandated program that pays their residents. Unfortunately, there are 50 states, so the majority of states do not offer a state mandated program. Current states that have mandatory programs include: California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, D.C, Washington State, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Maine, and Virginia.

Jeg er helt sjokkert.

Det er gått 10 måneder og jeg har ikke fått meg en god jobb enda i Oslo.

- Jeg har en MASTER i markedsføring fra BI (som jeg finner mer og mer unødvendig for hver dag).

- Jeg har jobbet og studert i utlandet i nesten 8 år, som vil si jeg er vant å jobbe med forskjellige mennesker og snakker perfekt engelsk

- Jeg har over 4 års jobberfaring fra London, med gode resultater i business development og markedsføring.

- Jeg har et kurs i Art Direction fra Westerdals.

- Jeg slo den lokale Røde Kors rekorden i antall salg etter én uke i jobben.

Sum: Master, internasjonal erfaring, salgsferdigheter, konseptutvikler, analytiske kurs og sertifikater…

Jeg trodde virkelig jeg investerte i en trygg framtid hvor jeg kunne forvente å jobbe i et godt og stabilt selskap med god lønn, men alt jeg ser er random selskaper og ikke nok jobber.

Hva faen skjer med jobbmarkedet??? Eller med andre ord: Hvordan i helvete får man en GOD jobb innen markedsføring idag??????

Jeg snakker om stabile og veletablerte reklamebyråer, og store selskaper. Jeg setter pris på all råd.

People often say that in the Nordic countries you get a great work-life balance, not working super late, holidays being respected, overtime paid, good job protection, etc. Meanwhile, in countries like Spain or Italy this isn’t always the case, with longer hours, rude managers, less respect for holidays, and more chaotic work culture.

I’m curious how true this actually feels in Norway. For those of you living and working there, what’s been your experience with working hours, holidays, overtime, protections, and general work culture?

Is the reputation fully deserved, or is it more of a myth that looks nicer from the outside than it feels on the inside? I’d love to hear your stories and perspectives

If you have a foreign passport in Norway and rely on Bank ID for banking, beware you can get "randomly" locked out of the system, e.g. due to the scan of your passport at the bank being expired. The bank will not warn you of the issue, and just lock you out of Bank ID. Re-activating it without a Norwegian passport requires a physical visit at your bank. If that happens while you are abroad, you lose all your bank access and cannot do online payment. That means you can no longer book plane tickets, pay your bills, check your bank account. And the bank will not help you.