Norway

Norway is a country of 5.6 million people with an employment rate above the EU average: 79.5% of people aged 20–64 have a job (EU: 76.1%).

Unemployment is low but has gone up every year – from 3.2% in 2022 to 4.5% in 2025, still well below the EU average of 6.0%. Youth unemployment (15–24) has risen more, from 10% to 14%, but is still below the EU’s 15.2%.

Norway is not in the EU, but it is part of the EEA. So as an EU/EEA citizen you do not need a work permit – you only register if you stay longer than 3 months. On Nav’s job portal you can filter for vacancies where English is the working language; knowing Norwegian opens many more doors.

In its 2026 business survey (Bedriftsundersøkelsen, May 2026), the public employment service Nav estimates that Norwegian businesses are short of about 34,000 workers. The biggest gaps:

• health and care – 9,200 people, above all health workers (helsefagarbeidere, 3,650) and nurses (1,850),
• industry – 5,750 people,
• construction – 4,750 people, especially carpenters and joiners (1,150) and electricians (1,110).

The shortage is largest in Vestland county (6,300), Rogaland (3,750) and Nordland (2,950).

EURES also lists building trades workers (except electricians), science and engineering professionals and teachers as the groups with the most frequent shortages, and regional shortages of nurses, health care assistants, medical specialists, cooks, electricians and welders. There are more jobseekers than jobs for cleaners and helpers, labourers and clerks.

For graduates, the best chances are in health care, engineering and teaching.

The public employment service Nav runs arbeidsplassen.no, one of the largest databases of job ads in Norway. Start here:

• arbeidsplassen.no – Nav’s free job portal; filter by working language (e.g. “Engelsk”), and for some jobs use the “superfast application” (superrask søknad) – a few clicks instead of a CV,
• EURES – the EU job portal, plus EURES advisers in your home country and in Norway,
• Min CV on nav.no – register your CV (after logging in with an electronic ID) so that employers can find you.

Larger employers often recruit through their own websites and social media such as LinkedIn, and there are other job portals too. Register your CV in several places to be visible. Once you arrive, the Service Centre for Foreign Workers (SUA) brings the police, the Tax Administration and the Labour Inspection Authority together to help you sort out everything you need to work.

For step-by-step advice on job search, CVs and interviews in any EU country, see our How to find a job abroad – 10 practical guides.

A typical Norwegian job application includes:

• a CV – a short overview of your education, work experience, language skills, courses, certifications and other relevant skills; the Europass CV can help,
• a cover letter – common in Norway: explain how your qualifications make you a good match for the job,
• supporting documents – diplomas, certificates, references and licences, if the employer asks for them.

Employers look for professional qualifications, teamwork skills, independence and motivation.

The interview: it may be in person or online. You will usually be asked about your experience, your motivation and how you would approach work tasks.

Diplomas: recognition of foreign education is often useful but not always needed to start work. For regulated professions you need approval from the competent authority. The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) is Norway’s ENIC-NARIC centre and assistance centre for regulated professions.

• No general minimum wage. Pay is set in collective agreements or agreed with your employer, but legally binding minimum wages apply in nine sectors, including construction, cleaning, electrical work, fish processing, agriculture, road freight, tour bus transport, the automotive industry and hospitality. Examples (from 15 June 2025): cleaning NOK 236.54 an hour (18+), hotels, restaurants and catering NOK 204.79 an hour (starting wage from age 20).
• Working time: normally at most 9 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with at least 11 hours of rest between working days. If you work more than 5.5 hours you get a break – at least 30 minutes in total if you work 8 hours or more.
• Overtime is paid with a bonus of at least 40%. Limits: 10 hours in 7 days, 25 hours in 4 weeks and 200 hours in 52 weeks.
• Holidays: at least 25 working days a year (Saturdays count, so about 4 weeks and a day); you can take 3 weeks in a row between 1 June and 30 September. Holiday pay (feriepenger) is at least 10.2% (12% where a collective agreement gives a fifth week). It is earned in the year before – if you did not work last year, you have no holiday pay saved up, but you still have the right to holiday.
• Contract: a written contract is compulsory for every job – permanent, temporary, part-time, casual or on-call. If the job lasts more than a month, you must have it no later than 7 days after you start.

Students from the EU/EEA can work in Norway alongside their studies. If you study there for more than 3 months, you register with the police – free of charge – just like workers.

• Part-time and summer jobs are normal jobs: you need a written contract, a tax deduction card and an ID number (D number or national identity number).
• In hotels, restaurants, cleaning and the other sectors with legally binding minimum wages, the minimum applies to you too.
• The Ung section of arbeidsplassen.no collects first jobs, part-time jobs and jobs that need no experience.
• Holidays: you are entitled to holiday from your first year, but holiday pay is only earned from the work you did the year before.

Students from outside the EU/EEA automatically get permission to work part-time for up to 20 hours a week with their study permit, and full-time during holidays.

Thinking of studying there first? See Studying in Norway – practical information.

1. Register as an EU/EEA worker: if you will work and live in Norway for more than 3 months, register with the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) no later than 3 months after arrival, then show your documents to the police (or at SUA). You get a registration certificate. Registration is free.
2. ID number: if you will stay at least 6 months, report your move to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) and go through an ID check in person – you then get a national identity number (fødselsnummer). Otherwise you get a D number.
3. Tax deduction card (skattekort): everyone who works in Norway needs one – your employer uses it to deduct tax. If you are new in Norway and earn less than NOK 725,050 in 2026, you may be taxed under the PAYE scheme at a flat 25%.
4. Social security and health care: as an EU/EEA worker you become a member of the National Insurance Scheme from your first day of work, which gives you access to health care. To get a regular GP (fastlege), you normally need to be registered as resident in a municipality.
5. Bank account: you need one for your salary; banks usually ask for a D number or national identity number and proof of identity.

Problems with your rights as an EU/EEA worker? Your Europe Advice and SOLVIT help for free.

EU/EEA citizens have the right to live, work and study in Norway under the EEA rules – you just register (see above). If you lose your job after working less than a year, you can stay and look for a new one for 6 months (registered with Nav and provided you did not resign yourself).

If you are not an EU/EEA citizen, you need a residence permit from UDI. The main routes:

• Job seekers after studies – recent graduates (and researchers and skilled workers) can get a residence permit for up to one year to look for work. You must have your own funds of at least NOK 27,116 a month (NOK 325,400 a year), as UDI stated in October 2026.
• Skilled workers – with a concrete, normally full-time job offer from a Norwegian employer and a university degree or at least 3 years of upper-secondary vocational training. Pay and working conditions must not be poorer than normal in Norway. With a degree, you normally get a permit for up to 3 years at a time.

All the conditions and application steps are explained by UDI: skilled workers and job seekers.

• Eurostat – population on 1 January, unemployment by age, employment rate (data for 2025 and 2026),
• EURES – Living and working conditions: Norway, Labour market information: Norway,
• Nav – business survey 2026 (in Norwegian), applying for a job, starting a new job, coming from an EU/EEA country to work in Norway,
• Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority – minimum wage, working hours, overtime, holiday,
• UDI – employees who are EU/EEA nationals, EU/EEA students, study permit, skilled workers, job seekers,
• Norwegian Tax Administration – national identity number, tax deduction cards, PAYE 2026,
• HK-dir – foreign education,
• Service Centre for Foreign Workers – sua.no,
• Your Europe – working abroad.

Updated: October 2026.