Norway can capitalize on its high penetration of technology, proud industrial tradition, and history of collaboration between employees, companies, and government to become a world-class destination for IT experts in the upcoming decades.
That was the message delivered by Riya Jagetia, Product Manager at Cognite, during the annual conference of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), Norway’s largest organization for employers and the leading business lobbyist.
Speaking as a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who relocated to Norway, Jagetia shared her thoughts on the lessons Cognite learned in 2019, when the company grew to more than 300 employees from more than 30 countries.
See Jagetia's talk here:
Jagetia detailed three factors that companies should consider in order to effectively attract diverse talent:
First and foremost, it’s incredibly important for a company to focus on diversity from the get-go. This is because diverse teams come up with better ideas than homogeneous teams consisting of people who more or less see the world in the same way. In addition, we also know that we need to promote Norwegian benefits -- what makes working culture here unique. That includes a flat structure, an open, egalitarian, and inclusive community, as well as benefits such as equal and generous maternity and paternity leave. All of these are unique benefits of working in Norway, but we need to make sure we actually make candidates aware of these facts and push them to attract some of the top talents. Lastly, while a competitive salary is important in attracting talent, what is more important is purpose, and making sure that you’re providing a social net for your employees.
Jagetia and other Cognite employees elaborated on the importance of diversity in an interview with the Norwegian business publication Finansavisen.
Read the full interview (in Norwegian) here.