Norway needs construction workers: what the country is building to 2036, and why EU tradesmen are hired all year
- short in 2026 (NAV)
- 4,750
- transport plan to 2036
- 1,308 bn NOK
- employed 2022 (Fafo)
- 251,000
- Legal minimum
- 239.61 NOK/h
- Typical rate
- 270–300 NOK/h
- Schedule
- Long-term, all year
- Who can apply
- EU and EEA citizens
Arbeidstilsynet, verified · 2026-08-08
≈ €25–€27 · with our partner employers
37.5 h week · overtime at least +40 %
no visa or work permit needed
In short
Norwegian employers reported a shortage of 34,000 workers in spring 2026, 4,750 of them in construction, and the single largest gap is carpenters at 1,150. The state has budgeted 1,308 billion NOK for roads, rail and ports through 2036, and Oslo alone has 25 billion NOK of hospital contracts running to 2031. Only 77% of the construction workforce is Norwegian-born, and Fafo puts the yearly recruitment need at 4,300 to 10,900 people to 2040. That is why EU tradesmen are hired all year, not for a season.
NAV employer survey 2026
How many construction workers Norway is short of
The answer for the whole country was 34,000 people. Construction is the third-largest gap by occupation group, at 4,750 people, and NAV says so in the same breath as admitting the industry has had weaker years. Within construction the biggest single shortage is carpenters and joiners (tømrere og snekkere) at 1,150, then electricians at 1,110, then other craft trades at 950. NAV notes that the people employers struggle most to find are those holding a trade certificate, a fagbrev.
18% of all firms said they had trouble recruiting in the three months before the survey. By county the largest gaps are in Vestland (6,300 people across all sectors), Rogaland (3,750) and Nordland (2,950), which is the west coast and the north, not Oslo. That matches where our partner employers are.
| What was counted | People short | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| All occupations, whole country | 34,000 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Construction (bygg og anlegg) | 4,750 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Carpenters and joiners | 1,150 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Electricians | 1,110 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Other craft trades | 950 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Vestland county, all sectors | 6,300 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Rogaland county, all sectors | 3,750 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
| Nordland county, all sectors | 2,950 | NAV, 20 May 2026 |
The pipeline
What Norway is building through 2036
The biggest single commitment is the National Transport Plan for 2025 to 2036, presented by the government on 22 March 2024. It sets aside 1,308 billion NOK over twelve years: 1,208 billion from the state and 100 billion from road tolls. 574 billion goes to national roads, 436 billion to rail, 65 billion to county roads, 34 billion to ports and coast, and 88 billion to city transport. 484 billion, about 40% of the plan, is for maintaining and renewing what already exists, which is steady work for concrete, steel and road crews rather than one-off showpieces.
Hospitals are the other large programme. Oslo University Hospital is building a new Rikshospitalet and a new Aker hospital at the same time, with building and technical contracts worth 25 billion NOK running to 2031. The shell contract for Rikshospitalet alone covers about 95,000 square metres of treatment building and wards, and the new Aker site is planned at 171,000 square metres. Stavanger has opened the first stage of its new university hospital and has a second stage costed at about 12 billion NOK, though financing for that stage is on hold and only the first outpatient building is scheduled, for 2028 to 2029.
1,308 bn NOK
National Transport Plan 2025 to 2036
Roads 574 bn, rail 436 bn, county roads 65 bn, ports 34 bn, cities 88 bn. Ministry of Transport, 22 March 2024.
484 bn NOK
Maintenance and renewal share of the plan
40% of the transport plan is repair and renewal of existing roads, tunnels, bridges and track. This is the part that never stops.
25 bn NOK to 2031
New Rikshospitalet and new Aker hospital, Oslo
Building and technical contracts for the two Oslo hospitals. About 95,000 m² of shell at Rikshospitalet, 171,000 m² planned at Aker. Helse Sør-Øst, 20 June 2025.
33.4 bn NOK, opens 2033
E39 Rogfast undersea tunnel
About 27 km long and 400 m below sea level between Stavanger and Haugesund. The first ferry-free crossing on the E39. Statens vegvesen.
about 12 bn NOK, on hold
New Stavanger University Hospital, stage 2
Stage 1 is open. Stage 2 is costed but its financing is paused; only the first outpatient building is scheduled for 2028 to 2029. Helse Stavanger and NRK.
+6% in 2026
Housing and the market cycle
Prognosesenteret puts 2024 as the bottom of the construction cycle and forecasts production growth of about 2% in 2025, 6% in 2026 and 2% in 2027, led by new housing. 18 August 2025.
All amounts are as published by the named source on the date shown. Cost estimates for large projects change; Rogfast, for example, has been revised upwards more than once.
Tunnel construction in Norway
Norway builds more road tunnels per head than any other country in Europe, and the transport plan keeps that going. Rogfast is the headline, but the 484 billion NOK maintenance budget also covers upgrading hundreds of older tunnels to current fire and ventilation rules. For a concrete worker, rebar fixer or formwork carpenter, tunnel work is year-round by definition: it does not care about the weather.
Schools are built and rebuilt by the municipalities rather than the state, so there is no single national figure. Oslo publishes a school needs plan for 2026 to 2045 that lists which schools are to be expanded, rebuilt or replaced over the next twenty years. I do not quote a total for it because none has been published that I can verify.
Fafo report 2024:35
Who builds Norway today
Norwegian construction employed 251,000 people in 2022, up from 167,500 in 2006. More than half of them work in the craft trades. Carpentry is the largest single trade at 10% of the whole industry, electrical work the second at 6%.
The share of workers born in Norway has fallen steadily: 88% in 2008, 80% in 2015 and 77% in 2022. Workers from Central and Eastern Europe were already 14% of the industry in 2015, and Fafo finds they work in the craft trades more often than Norwegian-born colleagues do. In other words, a Polish concrete crew or a Latvian carpenter on a Norwegian site is not an exception. It is how the industry has been staffed for fifteen years.
| Measure | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| People employed in construction | 251,000 | 2022 |
| People employed in construction | 167,500 | 2006 |
| Share born in Norway | 88% | 2008 |
| Share born in Norway | 80% | 2015 |
| Share born in Norway | 77% | 2022 |
| Share from Central and Eastern Europe | 14% | 2015 |
| Carpenters as share of the industry | 10% | 2022 |
| Electricians as share of the industry | 6% | 2022 |
Retirement, not weather
Why the need is all year, not seasonal
Fafo projected the industry's recruitment need to 2040 on one assumption: that people retire at 65. Just to replace those retirees and keep employment where it is, Norway needs 4,300 new construction workers every year. If activity through 2040 matches the average of 2003 to 2022, which Fafo itself calls too optimistic, the need rises to 10,900 a year. About 9,000 trade certificates are issued in Norway each year, so the domestic pipeline covers the low scenario and not the high one.
The demographic pressure behind that is not going away. Statistics Norway's 2024 projection expects the population over 80 to more than double by 2050, and within a decade there will be more people over 65 than under 20. That is the reason for the hospital programme, and it is also why the pool of young Norwegians entering the trades is not growing. A carpenter who starts on a Norwegian site in October is not filling a summer gap; he is filling a retirement.
Higher demand for labour means that firms in the construction industry will need to recruit more from other industries and from other countries.
Fafo-rapport 2024:35, summary, July 2024 (translated from Norwegian)
Where the gap is
Which trades are hired, and what each pays
1,150 short (NAV)
Carpenter jobs
The biggest single gap in the survey. Wood-frame housing, roofs, interior fit-out.
Tunnels, bridges, hospitals
Formwork carpenter jobs
Peri and Doka systems on exactly the concrete-heavy projects in the transport plan.
Year-round
Concrete jobs
Foundations, slabs and tunnel linings. Winter casting is normal practice in Norway.
1,110 short (NAV)
Electrician salary in Norway
Second-largest gap. Statutory rate 270.45 NOK/h for skilled electricians; DSB approval explained on the page.
Every large site
Scaffolding jobs
Training tiers by height under §17-4. Hospitals and rail depots need scaffold for years.
Housing recovery
Roofing jobs
Membrane and metal roofs on the housing volume that Prognosesenteret expects to lead growth.
Cladding
Facade jobs
Rainscreen and wood cladding on new-build and renovation.
Hospitals
Pipefitter jobs
Technical installations are a large share of hospital contract value.
G-class certificate
Crane operator jobs
Tower and mobile crane operators for the high-rise and hospital sites.
Rates on the trade pages come from Arbeidstilsynet (statutory minimums in force from 15 June 2025) and from our own placement data.
Your side of it
What you need to qualify
Non-negotiable
An EU or EEA passport
EU and EEA citizens can work in Norway without a permit. Everyone else needs an employer-sponsored permit through UDI, which is not something I arrange.
2 years or more
Proven trade experience
Employers want references from real sites. A fagbrev or the equivalent from your country helps with pay grade, but documented experience is what gets you hired.
Issued in Norway
An HMS card
Every construction worker in Norway carries an HMS safety card. Your employer applies for it once you have a D-number; the construction hub page walks through the steps.
Norwegian not required
Working English
Site language on our partner projects is English or the crew language. Norwegian is a bonus, never a condition.
I can only place EU and EEA citizens. If you hold another passport, I sadly cannot take your application, and I would rather tell you here than after you have filled in the form.
Read this too
The honest caveats
Construction in Norway has just had two weak years. NAV says the 2026 shortage exists "despite weaker times" in the sector, and Prognosesenteret dates the bottom of the cycle to 2024. The recovery it forecasts is modest, 6% in 2026, and it expects housing production in 2028 to still sit well below the 2021 level.
Not everything in the pipeline is funded. Stavanger's second hospital stage is costed at 12 billion NOK but paused. The transport plan is a plan, and the annual state budget decides how much of it is spent each year; the trade press has already noted the first budget fell short of the plan's pace.
Fafo's low scenario does not need foreign workers at all. If activity stays flat, the 9,000 Norwegian trade certificates a year cover the 4,300 retirements. Foreign recruitment is what fills the gap between flat and growth, which is why the demand is real but cyclical, and why I only take on people with real experience who can stay through a slow quarter.
Questions
Jobs in demand in Norway: the questions people ask
What jobs are in demand in Norway right now?
By NAV's 2026 employer survey, the largest shortages are in health and care, and in occupations that need a trade certificate. Construction is the third-largest group at 4,750 missing workers, led by carpenters (1,150) and electricians (1,110). I only place construction and fish-processing workers, so this page covers the construction side.
Does Norway need foreign construction workers?
Yes, and it has for fifteen years. Only 77% of the construction workforce was Norwegian-born in 2022, down from 88% in 2008 (Fafo). Fafo's own conclusion is that any growth above a flat market has to be staffed from other industries or other countries.
Which construction trades are most in demand in Norway?
Carpenters and joiners first (1,150 short), electricians second (1,110), then other craft trades (950). NAV adds that the hardest people to find are those with a fagbrev, the Norwegian trade certificate, or its foreign equivalent.
Is construction work in Norway all year, or seasonal?
All year. Norwegian sites cast concrete and frame houses through the winter, tunnels are indoors by definition, and the shortage is driven by retirements (4,300 a year to 2040) rather than by summer peaks. Seasonal work in Norway is fish processing and agriculture, which have their own pages.
What is Norway building right now?
The National Transport Plan 2025 to 2036 (1,308 billion NOK for roads, rail, ports and city transport), two new hospitals in Oslo (25 billion NOK of contracts to 2031), the E39 Rogfast tunnel (33.4 billion NOK, opening 2033), plus housing, which Prognosesenteret expects to lead growth from 2026.
How many people work in construction in Norway?
251,000 in 2022, according to Fafo's analysis of Statistics Norway register data. That is up from 167,500 in 2006. More than half work in the craft trades; carpentry is the largest at 10% of the industry.
What skills are needed in Norway for construction?
Documented experience in one trade, references from previous sites, and the willingness to work to Norwegian safety rules (HMS card, fall protection, documented equipment training). A trade certificate raises your pay grade. Norwegian language is not required on our partner sites; working English is.
Can I get a construction job in Norway without an EU passport?
Not through me. Non-EU and non-EEA citizens need an employer-sponsored residence permit for work from UDI, and the employer has to apply. I only place EU and EEA citizens, who need no permit at all.
Where in Norway are the biggest construction projects?
Oslo for the hospitals and rail, Rogaland for Rogfast and the Stavanger hospital, and the west coast and north for the county road and port money in the transport plan. NAV's county figures put the largest labour gaps in Vestland (6,300), Rogaland (3,750) and Nordland (2,950). Our own current construction vacancies are in Tromsø.
Is it true there is a construction slowdown in Norway?
There was. Prognosesenteret puts the bottom at 2024 and NAV recorded the 2026 shortage despite weaker years in the sector. The forecast is 6% growth in 2026 and 2% in 2027. Demand is real, but it is cyclical, which is why experience and references matter more than they did in 2021.
Sources
Where every number on this page comes from
- NAV, Bedriftsundersøkelsen 2026: Norske virksomheter mangler 34 000 personer20 May 2026
- Samferdselsdepartementet, Nasjonal transportplan 2025-203622 March 2024
- Helse Sør-Øst RHF, Inngår milliardkontrakt på Rikshospitalet20 June 2025, updated 12 May 2026
- Arkitema, New Aker Hospitalproject page, read 30 August 2026
- Statens vegvesen, E39 Rogfastproject page, read 30 August 2026
- Helse Stavanger HF, Nye SUS byggetrinn 2read 30 August 2026
- Fafo-rapport 2024:35, Arbeidstakere i bygge- og anleggsnæringen i 2015 og 2022July 2024
- Prognosesenteret, Bygg- og anleggsmarkedet snur til forsiktig oppgang18 August 2025
- SSB, Nasjonale befolkningsframskrivinger 20245 June 2024
- Arbeidstilsynet, minimum rates of pay in constructionin force from 15 June 2025
What happens after you apply
A chat with TANA
Our own AI, TANA, may start the conversation. It asks about your trade and the work you are after.
We read it and get in touch
Our team goes through your application and the chat. If a job fits, we contact you personally. If we do not get in touch right away, you stay on file and we may write a month or two later.
We put you forward
Your profile goes to the Norwegian employer and we set up the call.
Contract and travel
Your contract is with the Norwegian employer. We meet you in Norway and take you to your place.
Every application gets an answer within a month.
Apply
If you are the carpenter, electrician or concrete worker NAV is counting
Send one application. I check your experience against the roles our partner employers are filling now and reply personally, usually within two working days.
Keep reading
- How Norway was builtNine centuries of building, every figure sourced
- Construction jobs in NorwayAll 25 trades, statutory rates and the live vacancy list
- Open vacanciesWhat is being filled this week
- Construction jobs with accommodationHow housing works and what a room costs
- Norway salariesMinimum wages, tax and what you keep
- Jobs in Norway for foreignersEU rules, D-number, tax card
- Offshore jobs in NorwayThe other industry with rotation work