Skip to main content

Jørgen Svalund

Research professor

Jørgen Svalund is a researcher at Fafo. He holds a PhD in sociology on mobility and labour market adjustments in the Nordic labour markets. Job security, job retention schemes, temporary employment, and labour market mobility have been central themes in his research.

Currently, he is working on a project about digitalization and polarization for the Norwegian Research Council, and he is the project leader for a larger project funded by the Norwegian Research Council that examines how the pandemic affected the labour market, the institutions regulating it, and individuals' attitudes towards income security, job retention, and other aspects of labour market governance in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Svalund also has extensive experience in studying power and democracy in the workplace, as well as various aspects of health, environment, and safety in work life. Among others, he has conducted research on workplace violence and threats of violence over an extended period.

Svalund has published a large number of reports, articles, and book chapters on various topics and has broad experience in collecting, using, and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data.

Area of work


Current projects

Engaging workplaces: A social partners perspective on youth activation
How can workplaces – encompassing employers, employees, and the organisational structures in which they are embedded – be reconfigured to facilitate the successful inclusion of vulnerable youth struggling to enter and retain a position in the labour market?
National management education for directors and management of kindergartens
Formålet med prosjektet er å få mer kunnskap om styrerutdanningen for barnehageledere og i hvilken grad den bidrar til utvikling og endring av ledelsesespraksis i tråd med formålet med studiet. Ønsket er å mer kunnskap om hvordan lederutdanningen setter avtrykk i praksis.
Nordic labour market models facing pandemic crisis
The project study labour market consequences of the COVID 19 epidemic. What are the impact and adjustments made to the labour market, its institutions, the regulations and measures used?
The Impact of Digitalization on Work and Labour Markets in the Nordics and the U.S.

In cooperation with the University of Gothenburg, Michigan State University, and MIT, we will examine ongoing restructuring processes related to digitalization of work in Norway, Sweden and the U.S, the effects on labour market institutions and vice versa.

Fafo publications

Articles and book chapters

Other publications

Completed projects

Payment of holiday pay

Through this assignment, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs wishes to investigate how well secured employees' holiday pay is if the companies the individual is employed in are in an uncertain financial situation.

The basic agreement in the state sector - modus operandi

The basic agreement i state sector - the basic agreement provides the rules and regulations on social dialogue in state enterprises. The project aim to evaluate the modus operandi of the agreement.

Measures for permanent employment - summary and review of research
The project consists of a summary and review of research from Europa and Canada, where we study public measures improving the long-term connection to the labor market for immigrants.
Impact of the de-bureaucratization and streamlining reform (ABE reform)

How is the de-bureaucratization and streamlining reform (ABE reform) implemented in state agencies and how does it affect daily work?

Compliance to regulations on temporary employment and labour hire

The last couple of years have seen increasing attention to a variety of challenges and issues pertaining to temporary employment and labour hire.

Postgraduate education in kindergartens - participant survey
The project will investigate how kindergarten directors and kindergarten teachers who have participated in further education in 2018 and 2019 assess the content and organization of the education, learning outcomes and changes in their own practice. In addition, the project will look at how the nursery owner has arranged for participation.
Temporary employment

The aim of this comparative project is to study how temporary employment influences people’s employment careers and their chances of achieving a permanent establishment in the labour market.