Occupational structure 2000-2017

This report looks at changes in employment by occupation for the period 2000-2007. These figures are linked to employment by education and industry for the same period.

The number of employed persons in Norway increased by 378 000 from 2000 until 2017. In the same period the employment in occupation major groups 2 Professionals and 3 Technicians and associate professional, increased by 392 000. This implies that here has been a large change in the occupational pattern from occupations the usually require education on secondary level to occupation that usually requires education on university Level.

Some of the changes in the occupational pattern are connected to changes in employment by industry groups. There has been a large increase in industries using a high proportion of professional and associate professional employees. This explains around 50 per cent of the increase in these occupations from 2000 to 2017.

Digitalisation of tasks in the production of goods and services are one important reason why employment in most of the lower skilled occupational major groups has decreased since the year 2000. This have happened even though changes in employment by industry should have given an opposite result - if the occupational structure in 2017 had been the same as in 2000. Within these major groups of occupation, we do however also find some occupations that has increased over the period. Because of an increase in the population and income per capita, we find an increase in jobs like child care workers and waiters.

In the report we also look at employment by of level education by major group of occupations. There have been discussions if the large increase in higher education has forced persons to take up jobs which normally do not require that level of education. Among the two major group Clerks and Sales and service workers, we find that 15-20 percent of the employed person had education on university level. About one third of these are employed persons under 30 years of age. Some of these jobs are part time jobs while taking a master degree. For those having attained a master, some would also have this kind of jobs while they are looking for a more permanent job in line with their level of education.