Employees in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden benefit from some of the OECD’s strongest social safety nets, but their three economies are recovering unevenly. Sweden returned to growth in 2025 after two years of stagnation, however its unemployment rate of 8.8% is still among the highest in the OECD, while Norway’s sits at 4.5%. Skills mismatches and labour shortages now exist alongside rising unemployment, and aging workforces, the green energy transition, and AI adoption are changing the work itself faster than many operating models have adapted.
These pressures influence what employees expect from their employers and how they judge the growth opportunities on offer, and they affect how people respond when their organisations have to change. Perceptyx's 2026 Nordics Benchmark Report looks at how that environment shows up in the employee experience, using the Perceptyx Benchmark Database and its more than 23 million survey responses from 490 organisations in 113 countries. The regional findings are based on organisations in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Overall engagement across the region sits at 76%, matching Europe and trailing the global figure of 80%. Employees report strong levels of personal accomplishment and intent to stay, which suggests they remain connected to their work and committed to their organisations. Advocacy is where the pattern changes. Only 68% say they would recommend their company as a great place to work, compared with 71% across Europe and 76% globally. Additionally, this figure falls to 64% in Norway.
The report reads this as a difference in how engagement shows up rather than a weakness in it. Employees appear to be driven less by outward enthusiasm for their organisation and more by trust, meaningful work, and what their day-to-day experience is like. For organisations looking to strengthen engagement, that may mean putting less effort into raising motivation and more into reinforcing advocacy through leadership, employee voice, and visible opportunities for growth.
The strongest drivers of engagement in the region point to workplaces where employees expect to be included and heard, and to have support as work evolves. Highly engaged employees are nearly twice as likely to say they feel supported in adapting to change, and they are notably more likely to believe their opinions are considered. Favourability on support through change still trails the overall benchmark, which makes it both an important driver and an open opportunity.
Few results in the report stand out as much as those on authenticity and respect. Nearly nine in ten employees say they can be their authentic selves at work (89%) and that they are treated with respect and dignity (89%), both well above global benchmarks. Employees are also more likely to say diverse perspectives are valued on their teams and that people are treated fairly.
Cooperation across departments is one exception, lagging slightly behind global benchmarks. Team environments are strong, but that strength may be harder to carry across the wider organisation.
Against that cultural backdrop, perceptions of growth and development are noticeably weaker. Half of employees believe career opportunities are available to them, 15 points below the global benchmark, and satisfaction with training sits at 58% compared with 72% globally. Employees are also less confident that change is handled effectively.
These results matter because career opportunities are one of the strongest drivers of engagement in the region, and highly engaged employees are more likely to see them. The report also finds that employees are relatively positive about how well their skills are used in their current role. That suggests the issue is less about the day-to-day work and more about visibility into what comes next, a pattern that echoes our State of Learning & Development research, where access to career-supporting learning ran ahead of employees’ view of the opportunities it could lead to.
Addressing it may take a broader view of development than formal training alone. Mobility, skill development, and continuous learning can all give employees a visible path forward alongside traditional advancement.
The recommendations follow from this pattern. Protecting the people-centred culture comes first, especially as new technologies change how people work. Alongside that, organisations can strengthen support through change by explaining the reasons behind it and giving employees a role in the process, and they can make growth more visible by widening what counts as progress.
The 2026 Nordics Benchmark Report includes charts and comparisons against European and global benchmarks behind these findings, along with the full set of recommendations for organisations in the region.