What does this autumn's parliamentary election 2025 mean for you as a NITO member in Agder?

Kai Steffen Østensen
1st candidate in Vest-Agder AP

What do you think about NITO? Do you know who we are, and what we stand for? 

Absolute. NITO is an important trade union that represents engineers and technologists, and you are a key player in working life. I have great respect for the work you do to promote the interests of our members, whether it is in terms of wages, working conditions or skills development. The Labour Party believes that cooperation with trade unions such as NITO is important, because we believe in the strength of tripartite cooperation between employers, employees and the authorities.

What do you think about the fact that the salary level for engineers and technologists is significantly lower in Agder than in the rest of the country?

This is a challenge we take seriously. One of our main issues is that people should be better afforded. This also applies to engineers and technologists, who are crucial for value creation and innovation. We know that lower wage levels can contribute to reinforcing the brain drain from Southern Norway, which in turn weakens Agder's competitiveness. Here I would like to work with you to hear what solutions you are interested in to strengthen the salary level for engineers and technologists.

What do you think is needed for the salary level for our members to be raised to the national level?

To raise the wage level, we must work on several fronts:

• Increase local value creation through investments in technology, research and innovation. This creates economic growth, which in turn can reflect the wage level.
• Strengthen the bargaining position of employees by facilitating a strongly organised labour market and good collective agreements. The Labour Party will continue to increase the trade union deduction to NOK 10,000.
• Stimulate higher demand for expertise by investing in industries such as offshore wind, battery technology and other green industries that require technological expertise, and which Agder can be best at. In addition, we will further develop our traditional process industry - and through investment in UiA and vocational schools, the goal is to ensure the expertise our region needs. This also applies to the public sector, where many
• engineers and technologists work. Their expertise is necessary to succeed in the transition we are going through with climate change, fewer people in working life and a technological development that is accelerating.

What does it take to attract engineers and technologists to our region? 

To make Agder attractive to engineers and technologists, we must:

• Ensure a good educational offer, because we know that students can potentially stay in the region they are studying! • Develop strong academic environments by strengthening collaboration between the business community and educational institutions such as the University of Agder, where artificial intelligence is a good example.
• Secure more exciting and future-oriented jobs through investment in growth industries such as offshore wind, maritime technology and battery production.
• Improve living conditions in the region, including through efforts to get more young people into working life, safe roads and accessible housing policies.

What will your party fight for among the engineers and technologists in Agder? 

The Labour Party will work to ensure that Agder becomes an engine in the green shift. Here, the Labour Party clearly differs from the Progress Party, which wants to stop green projects, put the EEA Agreement into play and cut jobs. We will:

• Invest in green industrial development, such as offshore wind and battery production, to create more jobs for engineers and technologists.
• Ensure young people outside the labour market a job or education that is relevant to our region.
• Invest in continuing and further education to ensure that engineers have relevant skills in a time of rapid technological development.
• Ensure good pay and working conditions through strong tripartite cooperation.

What advantages do you think we as technology companies have here in Agder? 

Agder has several advantages that are linked

• Maritime technology, process industry and offshore expertise make the region well positioned for new industries.
• The Agder Model, which ensures collaboration between business, the public sector and academia, provides a strong innovation environment
• The University of Agder's important expert environment, especially in Grimstad for NITO's field.
• The important cluster collaboration is an important advantage - both Eyde, GCE Node and Digin.
• Access to renewable energy gives the region a unique opportunity to become a green industrial region.
• National authorities located in Agder with responsibility for technology and artificial intelligence.

What are the biggest challenges as you see it? 

The biggest challenges are:

• Trade war and international unrest: Increased tariffs from the US are creating lower economic growth internationally and affecting trade, demand and jobs. That is why we are working to secure Norwegian jobs in a demanding time, where defending the EEA Agreement is crucial. We are also concerned about increased international unrest with more war and conflict, and are therefore strengthening the Armed Forces more than at any time since the Second World War. Demanding times require safe governance now, to provide security for the future both in Agder and throughout Norway.
• Brain drain: Lower salary levels and a lack of development opportunities can lead to young talents moving to other regions.
• Restructuring, infrastructure and digitalisation: Agder must not fall behind when it comes to the need for restructuring and digitalisation. That is why we are working to strengthen competitiveness and facilitate better digitalisation of society and safe roads – while at the same time securing jobs in our region.

We are approx. 6000 members who are affected - what can you do for us? 

I want to be a clear voice for Agder in the Storting and fight for the development of existing and new industry in Agder, in addition to competence development and research that gives technologists and engineers competitiveness and a good labour market. I hope for good dialogue and collaboration on issues you are passionate about, and would like to have both meetings and visits to ensure that we are well talked to and so that you can keep me updated on the field you know best.

What can you do to facilitate our better success?

Refers to the answer above.

Which engineering-related issue do you want to address in the Storting and why?

I will prioritise ensuring that Norway invests in offshore wind as a key industry. This will create jobs, promote green technology and strengthen Agder's position as a leading region in maritime technology.

Mirell Høyer-Berntsen
1st candidate in Agder SV 

What do you think about NITO? Do you know who we are, and what we stand for?

I am relatively well acquainted with NITO and have many NITO colleagues at my workplace. NITO is Norway's largest trade union for engineers and technologists. I also have a NITO member in my household, and am a regular reader of Teknisk Ukeblad.

What do you think about the fact that the salary level for engineers and technologists is significantly lower for us in Agder than the average in the rest of Norway?

Agder's industry structure can probably affect the wage level somewhat, as there are some geographical differences in the industry structure. At the same time, needs and demand come into play. Here in Agder, we have an industry structure consisting of a number of industry and industrial clusters, and part of it is vulnerable industry and industry that can be hit by the same economic fluctuations and new requirements at the same time. In order to ensure sufficient expertise, we must be concerned with ensuring good pay and working conditions. So that more people choose Agder as their place of work and residence, and we ensure that more people stay in the region after graduation.

What do you think is needed for the salary level for our members to be raised to the national level?

A lot of exciting things are happening in Agder, and many engineers are educated at the University of Agder (UiA) every single year, and in addition we have the Vocational School in Agder, which is also important in technical subjects. All parts of our society are affected by technology and new technology in one way or another. This means that there is a great need for their expertise in both the private and public sectors. It is therefore important to highlight the importance of this expertise and the demand for it.

As elected representatives, we must ensure good and predictable framework conditions for the region, while at the same time setting requirements that ensure innovation and development that provide new jobs that solve societal challenges locally and globally. We must attract new important technology establishments, and at the same time take care of the companies we have, and facilitate that we can take leading positions in new development and land larger investments. We have exciting cluster initiatives, collaboration and a forward-looking business community that can work together for a more sustainable development. We must also highlight that Agder is a good place to establish oneself, work and live. Our region has many advantages that we can advantageously become better at marketing and highlighting.

What does it take to attract engineers and technologists to our region?

In order to attract engineers and technologists to Agder – a region with great potential – we must invest both in developing attractive jobs and in highlighting the region's qualities. It is important to highlight Agder as an attractive place to live and work, with good living environments and exciting career opportunities.

At the same time, we must invest in new industries and strengthen collaboration with academia, so that we build strong academic environments that attract the expertise the region needs for the future.

What will your party fight for among the engineers and technologists in Agder?

The Socialist Left Party will fight for Agder to get new jobs in new industries that are to be established. We have very ambitious goals for the region in the Regional Plan Agder 2030, and in order to achieve these goals, we need engineers and technologists who can contribute to solving societal challenges, transitioning to a low-emission society, digitalizing, creating new technology such as welfare technology. The Socialist Left Party is concerned with providing room for manoeuvre so that companies can free up time for innovation, and relieve pressure by securing risk capital in projects while they are being driven. In addition, we must invest in educating engineers with the right skills that are in demand from the business community. This is done by strengthening the education sector such as UiA and vocational schools. As elected representatives, we must dare to set a long-term direction, so that business can adapt and achieve predictability.

What advantages do you think we as technology companies have here in Agder?

We in Agder have a great advantage in that we have a large access to newly graduated engineers at UiA and are a large competence environment within academia. We also have the Vocational School, which also provides a good offer of further education for important industries. We also have a rich environment of expertise within the supplier industry and through the business clusters.

What are the biggest challenges as you see them?

We are facing several major challenges in the engineering industry in Agder. Many enterprises report significant recruitment problems, particularly in the public sector. It is particularly difficult to find personnel with the right professional expertise in areas such as water and sewerage (VA), ICT and construction.

Public sector employers often find that they are not competitive in terms of wages compared to the private sector, which is amplified in rural municipalities where small professional communities make it challenging to attract and retain competent labour.

Digital competence is also crucial, and the need for employees with a solid understanding of technology and the ability to work in a digital everyday life is becoming increasingly important.

Another major challenge is to ensure the necessary expertise for the new green industries, and to restructure existing industry after the oil age. To succeed in this, it is crucial to create long-term predictability in the investment in new industries, such as offshore wind.

We are approx. 6000 members who are affected - what can you do for us?

The engineers in Agder are widely represented in the private and public sectors and in many industries from building and construction to hospitals.

The Socialist Left Party's goal is to create a safer and better organised working life, where working people have influence and get their rightful share of value creation

The Socialist Left Party will, among other things:

• Preserving the sick pay scheme
• Facilitate a gradual reduction in working hours, with a 30-hour week/6-hour day with full salary compensation as the goal.
• Give a trade union deduction on the entire trade union fee
• Defend and strengthen the regulation of working hours, the normal working day and protection against inconvenient working hours
• Ensure a statutory and real right to full-time employment.

What can you do to facilitate our better success? 

One of the greatest strengths we have in Norwegian working life is the tripartite cooperation. The Socialist Left Party always works on the side of the trade union movement to ensure a good, safe and fair working life. Rights in the Working Environment Act should never be weakened with a strong Socialist Left Party in parliament. Therefore, it is important to cultivate this collaboration further.

Which engineer-related issue do you want to address in the Storting and why?

An important issue that affects many companies in Agder is power. In Agder, we have a large power surplus that we can utilise better, but then we must get control of the unpredictable power prices. This will help many businesses as well as private households. This is perhaps one of the most important issues for the business community in Agder.

• take the power of the stock exchange and investigate alternative models that replace the current market-driven power system with a democratically governed system, including how we can use the opening in the EEA Agreement to reclassify necessary electricity consumption as a necessity that is not subject to market rules.
• establish a state-owned enterprise for the purchase and sale of electricity. The company shall have the opportunity to purchase electricity directly from producers and the spot market, and offer long-term and predictable agreements to households, industry and other businesses at a reasonable price throughout the country. This company will replace the current electricity sales companies.

Gro-Anita Mykjåland
Member of Parliament for Aust-Agder, Centre Party

What do you think about NITO? Do you know who we are and what you stand for? Yes, I know about NITO and the important job you do for the engineers and technologists in Norway. I have great respect for the fact that you stand up for your members – especially when it comes to salary, competence and professional development. You are an important voice in the public debate and for a profession that is important for the restructuring of Norway.

What do you think about the fact that the salary level for engineers and technologists is significantly lower in Agder than the average in the country? That worries me. Agder will be an attractive region for both business and people with higher skills. When wages are lagging behind, it becomes more difficult to retain and recruit good people. It is a signal that we must do more to lift the technology jobs here locally.

What do you think is needed for the wage level to be raised to the national level? We must create more technology jobs in the region, ensure stronger competition for labour and ensure that both public and private investments end up in Agder. Then we can build strong professional environments and salaries will naturally follow.

What does it take to attract engineers and technologists to Agder? We must show that Agder is a good place to live – with exciting jobs, good schools, a safe upbringing and affordable housing. It is also important to support entrepreneurs and technology companies, so that there is something to get to. I would also like to mention that we need to get more girls into technology subjects. And here I hope that we get more role models who can show what exciting jobs there are within these professions that make more girls choose to educate themselves in that direction.

What will the Centre Party fight for among the engineers and technologists in Agder? We will fight for more technology jobs in the region, closer cooperation between the university and the business community, and that Agder gets its fair share of state investments. The expertise must be used where people live – not just in Oslo.

What advantages do you think technology companies have here in Agder? We have large resources in power and renewable energy, strong academic environments at the University of Agder, and industry that is already at the forefront of the green transition. In addition, we have good people who want to live and work in.

region – we must take advantage of that. Offshore wind, artificial intelligence, climate adaptation, welfare technology and circular economy are just a few examples.

What are the biggest challenges as you see it? One of the biggest challenges for our industry and business is higher electricity prices in Agder than in the rest of the country. We must put a stop to this. Cheaper and stable power prices have been a competitive advantage for our region, and we must take systemic measures in power policy that ensure that we do not lose that competitive advantage.

We are approx. 6000 members who are affected - what can you do for us? I can raise their challenges in the Storting, ensure that political decisions take Agder into account, and work to ensure that both public and private jobs are added to the region. I will continue to work for stable and lower power prices for business and industry in our region.

What can you do to facilitate our better success? I will work to ensure that technology companies have easier access to support schemes, research funding and expertise. And I will fight for more decentralized power – so that decisions are made closer to the people and businesses in Agder.

Which engineering-related issue do you want to address in the Storting and why? I would like to address the need for more support for technology companies in rural areas – especially those that work with green energy, oceans and industry. It is our future, and Agder can play a key role in this. If you look at the roadmap for a green industrial boost that we presented when we were in government, everything is in place for Agder to create many new jobs in the future.

Hildegunn M. T. Seip
Parliamentary candidate for Agder MDG

What do you think about NITO? Do you know who we are, and what we stand for?

I think that we need many good engineers and technologists in the transition and reality we live in! And that it is good that you are organized and committed, and contact us politicians. Otherwise, I must admit that I do not think I have met any representatives from you before, so I would like to - and listen and learn more about what you stand for.

What do you think about the fact that the salary level for engineers and technologists is significantly lower for us in Agder than the average in the rest of Norway? This is both unreasonable, and a disadvantage for us as a region, which needs to be able to attract engineers and technologists for business, development and sustainable value creation in the future.

What do you think is needed for the salary level for our members to be raised to the national level?

First of all, more people need to know about it, and that's why it's so nice that you convey it here, because I wasn't aware of this. Then we need enough attention and follow-up both politically and from the social partners so that we can correct this.

What does it take to attract engineers and technologists to our region? With several future engineers in the next generation in the family, this is something I am concerned about personally as well as politically To take what we can do from a political point of view, I think the most important thing is to dare to invest in development and innovation and the projects that are needed in the green transition in the future, such as offshore wind and other energy technologies. In addition, we must continue to develop good local communities and better living conditions, take care of our beautiful southern nature, and do everything we can to be an inclusive and inviting region.

What will your party fight for among the engineers and technologists in Agder?

We have common cause in much of this, which is about energy transition and future-oriented, sustainable solutions, as I see it. We are also the party that is clearest about having a plan to transition Norway safely out of the oil age, in dialogue with those who work in the field and involved interests and local communities – so we have good legs to stand on when the world is to become fossil-free. Engineers and technologists are needed even more!

What advantages do you think we as technology companies have here in Agder?

Proximity to the continent and renewable energy access are major advantages, which facilitate international cooperation and electricity exchange. We also have a tradition of good collaboration between the research and education sector, with UiA at the forefront, and business and the public sector, which we can strengthen and build on.

What are the biggest challenges as you see them?

Electricity prices in our region have been a challenge, here we will work for more fairly distributed pricing internally in Norway without dismantling the international cooperation that is important in the long term to solve both energy needs and the climate crisis. We also want much better support schemes for energy efficiency, energy efficiency and local electricity production for the business sector, which will give engineers and technologists and their workplaces a lot of meaningful things to do – which both lowers electricity costs and solves societal problems. We also need to resume the investment in research, development and innovation, which has had poor conditions, especially as long as the Centre Party was in government.

We are approx. 6000 members who are affected - what can you do for us?

We take restructuring, emergency preparedness and the environmental crisis seriously, which is why we have the most concrete plans for energy transition, oil phase-out, retraining and investments in the technology and engineering of the future. I work a lot with labour policy as a labour policy spokesperson in MDG, and am very ready for a lot of dialogue with all organisations in the field, to follow up on what is important to you. The working conditions must be good, working hours and wages to live well with, for our greatest resource – those who have the expertise and do the job, and whom we must take good care of.

What can you do to facilitate our better success?

Invest properly in the green transition over time, and talk honestly and solution-oriented about the changes we have to go through. It is not only from fossil to renewable that we need engineering and technology forces: We must move away from the use-and-throw society, and instead take good care of our things with creativity and ingenuity. We must change the entire industry, and replace raw material extraction, waste and pollution with new technology, responsible mineral extraction and circular, industrial processes that take care of resources.

Which engineering-related issue do you want to raise in the Storting and why?

We have the transition to a fossil-free future and a circular society as overriding issues, and therefore have these issues that I am happy to raise in the Storting:

• We will establish a restructuring commission together with the social partners and other relevant actors, which will ensure a safe and predictable implementation of the transition away from fossil energy.
• We will consider lower employer's national insurance contributions for a period of time for municipalities particularly affected by the green transition.
• We will use the public policy instruments to support innovation in circular business models and technology, and establish the "Repairer Rate", as a new grant scheme for companies, measures and research that promote repairs.

Tellef Inge Mørland
1st candidate for Aust-Agder AP

I refer to the answers from my party colleague, which I support, and would like to add some slightly more general comments based on their questions.

For the Labour Party, organised labour is a fundamental part of our politics. As you know, we have a particularly close collaboration with the LO, but I hope you feel free to contact us, when there are issues that affect the groups you organize. For me, it is important to emphasize that we must have an open door for all the employee organizations, something I am also used to from my work in the Storting.

During this parliamentary term, we have made a number of changes to the legislation to improve workers' rights, while at the same time we have more than doubled the trade union deduction, after it was at a standstill for a number of years under Erna Solberg's government. A high degree of unionisation is crucial for a decent working life, and in the negotiations on wages.

When you are wondering what we can do on the issue of wages, I would therefore like to emphasise that wages are primarily a matter to be negotiated between the social partners, and I think it is important that we respect this as politicians. However, it is very useful for us to be aware of the wage differences you point out.

In addition to the points that Kai Steffen has highlighted regarding an active industrial policy, I would also like to point out that we (together with the Socialist Party and the Socialist Left Party) have established a separate loan scheme of NOK 5 billion for green industrial companies in an establishment or escalation phase. This was based on our region's needs, but is of course not a loan scheme that was reserved for Morrow.