After twelve years as a temporary employee at universities in Norway and England, Jonas Fossli Gjersø has now got a permanent job as associate professor of history at the University of Stavanger. The long existence as a temporary employee has presented challenges, among other things related to buying a home. For a period he commuted at least four hours every day to be able to own his own, Gjersø believes that as a temporary employee you will go to great lengths to appease students and colleagues. – You work as hard as you possibly can. This year it has not been uncommon to have 18 hours a day, says Gjersø and lists: – Preparing and conducting teaching, guiding students and doing research myself. The workload is very large. – How will everyday life be then? – There will be a lot that doesn’t add up, replies the father of small children and adds that he and his wife work well together. The wife is a doctoral student, and they relieve each other as best they can. Calling for system changes Gjersø is not the only one who has lived with temporary appointments in Norwegian academia. 16 per cent of all man-years in teaching and research positions are temporary, according to figures from the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH), compiled by the Swedish Research Association. This is more than the average in Norway. Figures from Statistics Norway show that 8.3 per cent aged 15–74 were temporary employees in the second quarter of 2022. PERMANENT JOB: Jonas Fossli Gjersø finally got a permanent job in Stavanger, after twelve years in temporary positions within academia. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Now Gjersø wants changes. – You can impose a much higher proportion of permanent positions on the universities. They hide behind the financing arrangements. Much of the temporary need not be temporary. The funding scheme Gjersø is referring to means that the institutions apply to the Research Council for temporary funds for projects. – Then the positions linked to the projects will also be temporary, says Gjersø. – It is a social challenge The Swedish Association of Researchers is a trade and interest organization for employees in higher education, research and knowledge dissemination. Manager Guro Elisabeth Lind is not enthusiastic about the proportion of temporary employees. Guro Elisabeth Lind, leader of the Norwegian Association of Researchers. Photo: Erik Norrud/Forskerforbundet – It is difficult for the individual, who lives with great uncertainty, she says, and adds: – It is also a social challenge because it affects the quality of research and teaching and makes the research profession less attractive. Now the Norwegian Association of Researchers is making demands on the Minister for Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe (Sp). – We expect him to use everything he has in his toolbox to secure more researchers permanent employment. – Very important Per Bonde Hansen researches working life as part of the research group Work, management and coping at Oslo Met. He believes that access to permanent work has traditionally been an important value in Norway because it ensures employees a stable income and gives employers predictability. – It has been considered the standard working relationship. That is the norm and the main rule, says Hansen. RESEARCHER: Pål Bonde Hansen researches working life at Oslo Met. He says access to permanent jobs has traditionally been important in Norway. Photo: OsloMet Hansen says that the permanent workplaces have created social and political community by establishing trade unions, which have mainly consisted of permanent employees. At the same time, temporary labor has been important for the parties in working life – If you look at LO and NHO in the period after the Second World War, there has been agreement that many should be permanent employees, but also agreement and acceptance that not all should be. – There has been agreement that there should be a certain flow in the labor market, more in some occupations than others. At the same time, permanent and temporary work is a conflict-filled topic, something that has been especially seen since the 1980s, says Hansen. Amendment proposal for consultation Research and Higher Education Minister Ola Borten Moe has been submitted to the criticism. He does not have the opportunity to sit for an interview, and refers to State Secretary Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel. Hoel says the government wants to do something about the use of temporary employment in the sector. – We want permanent employment to be the main rule because it provides better protection, greater security and more predictability, says Hoel. He believes the institutions will have problems building up good research and educational environments if they have many temporary employees. GET SUPPORT: The government also wants to reduce the use of temporary employment in the university and college sector. Now they have proposals out for consultation, says State Secretary Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel (Sp). Photo: HØGSKULEN I SOGN OG FJORDANE The ministry is now working with recommendations from a committee that was set up last year. Among the proposals for changes (external link) was to follow the rules for the rest of working life to a greater extent. The universities and colleges have also been asked to work to reduce the number of temporary positions. – There are not good enough reasons for this sector to provide worse conditions for its employees than elsewhere in working life, says Hoel. COMMUTED FAR: Jonas Fossli Gjersø struggled to get a mortgage when he worked in a temporary position at the University of Oslo. The solution was to buy a home in Tjøme, so that he commuted for a total of four hours every day. Photo: Even Hye T. Barka / news Jonas Fossli Gjersø is now starting life as a permanent employee. He is very happy about that. – It is almost unreal. I have become used to the fact that everything is so temporary, and that I constantly have to move and look for new jobs. It is very nice to have peace and time to focus only on research and teaching.
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