Copenhagen & Oslo

Copenhagen

Population: 763,908

Dong Energy

Established in 2006, Dong Energy is a company that transforms energy systems “to more renewable and sustainable energy” via offshore wind turbine farms. Dong Energy has 6,200 employees with a presence in Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, U.S., U.K. and Taiwan. Denmark owns 50% of the company. Dong supplies energy to Danish residents as well as B to B customers.

The goal of Dong Energy is to replace most fossil fuel consumption by replacing it with green energy and they are using their natural resources to create their competitive advantage. They do source their larger turbines since it would not be cost-efficient to supply their own turbines. The turbines produce enough energy to supply power to 10 million people.

Dong Energy intends to continue growing therefore providing local job creation.

Oslo

Population: 700,000

Executive Headhunter

In Oslo, over 500 companies utilize placement companies. Per Marum’s company has 200 Executive Search Consultants. During the presentation, we learned that there isn’t one “Scandinavian way” and that within Scandinavia, each country views each other differently. One thing that they did have in common is that the cost of employing people is extremely high so it is very important to ensure that people are place in the right roles. Applicants in the job search market in Norway have a more modest approach when it comes to resume writing. When people are placed in their roles, the compensation is not very high since CEO’s make no more than 5-7 times more than the entry-level salary. It was also highlighted that immigrants from other countries would struggle in finding jobs in Norway. The take-away from this session was that people in the U.S. who are planning in moving to Norway should stay put since the job market is not friendly towards those applicants and neither degrees nor the schools where those degrees were obtained, will help the cause. It was great to hear this directly from a local recruiter so that people aren’t let down when it’s too late and they’ve made the trek to Norway.

Nettavisen

Nettavisen is a news media outlet that publishes reading material via journalists and bloggers. Nettavisen has 4 million readers but are currently placed in 5th place with their eye on 1st. They publish 200-250 news stories (100 of their own) per day and 70% of those are Norwegian stories. Nettavisen is a media outlet that knows that its present customer base is mobile and not desktop so they are trying to stay on top of the trends, even within their own organization.

Thanks Denmark and Norway!