All over the country there are reports of a decline for all those who ensure that we get new houses to live in and new buildings to work in. In the next two years, as many as 30,000 man-years could disappear, NHO believes. At the latest on Monday, it became clear that the building materials chain Maxbo will have to lay off around 100 of its 1,500 employees. Trond Bentestuen, CEO of Maxbo, tells E24 that the development in the market this autumn has been brutal and dramatic. – Layoffs are far from over. But in the end we had no choice to be able to maintain proper operations, he says to the newspaper. According to Bentestuen, the redundancies must be distributed among all departments, but not necessarily equally between them. Maxbo is one of many companies in the construction industry that must resort to drastic measures before Christmas. Photo: NTB Money for the Husbanken Others are also noticing the consequences. On 1 December, the Bergen entrepreneur Vestafjells had to go the hard way to the bankruptcy court. – The company had contracts that showed there was hope, but unfortunately it has turned out that the market worsened further. That’s what bus driver for the company, Bjørn Åge Hamre, told Bergens Tidende. The number of bankruptcies in the construction industry is up 30 per cent so far this year and the number of completely unemployed has increased by over 2,500 people since November last year. But the agreement between the governing party and SV on the state budget still gives reason for optimism, believes the Norwegian Building Industry Association (BNL). Especially the fact that Husbanken will now get an extra 5 billion for lending next year. Nina Solli is managing director of the National Association of the Building Industry in NHO. Photo: The National Association of the Construction Industry May lose 30,000 man-years – Here are funds that can provide activity in the construction industry as long as 2024, says CEO of BNL, Nina Solli to news. It is money that can go to everything from start-up loans to those who are going to buy or build for the first time, student housing and, for example, refugee housing. One billion from the state for energy efficiency and railway maintenance is also helping to strengthen faith in the future, despite gloomy predictions. She fears that in the next two years turnover in the industry of around NOK 30 billion could disappear, which would correspond to around 30,000 man-years. – We have said that the worst is ahead of us, says Solli. But both he and the LO giant Fellesforbundet believe the government will introduce even more measures to prevent a total crisis and recession. – We won’t know for sure how big the crisis will be until a year from now, says Christian Justnes. Wants to change the rules He is union secretary in the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions and is now experiencing a lot of pressure on what the future holds for all those who work in construction. – This is also about political measures and the will to implement them, says Justnes. Both the employers and the trade union now want the rules for redundancies in the construction industry to be greatly softened to help with the expected crisis. Among other things, they want the government to change the rules as follows: Increase the layoff period from 26 to 52 weeks Lower the wage obligation for employers from 15 to 5 days In this way, both parties believe that it will be easier to keep the professionals on the day the interest rate drops and the economy turns again. Local Government and Modernization Minister Erling Sande (Sp). Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – A reckoning Local Government Minister Erling Sande (Sp) tells news on Monday evening that he understands that the situation in the construction industry is anything but cheerful during the day. He also points to an extra 5 billion for the Housing Bank as a tool that can contain some of the downturn. – It is an important reckoning for our construction industry where many of the players are aware that these are very demanding times, says Sande. For example, he will not say what the government is doing in relation to the lay-off rules, especially since this is under another ministry. – But I have taken the initiative for a meeting with the construction industry on Tuesday anyway, says Sande. There, the parties will discuss what measures can help in the difficult times we are facing.
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5 billion Christmas kroner will help the construction industry – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
