Nearly all new jobs filled by foreign workers

Employment in Denmark has reached a record high of 3,014,700 employees, with the figure growing by 22,759 over the last year. However, almost exclusively foreign labor has contributed to this growth. According to the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), 87% of this increase, equal to 19,811 workers, consists of foreign employees. The DI’s Vice Director Steen Nielsen notes the domestic workforce is effectively exhausted, with critical zero unemployment rates in occupations like electricians and smiths. The challenge is further exacerbated by the larger aging population retiring compared to younger generations entering the workforce, suggesting a structural deficit in Danish labor. Projections indicate that the number of Danes between 16 and 66 years old will decrease by 75,000 in the next decade. Nielsen emphasizes the necessity of continued foreign worker influx and suggests revising or supplementing the current income threshold policy for non-EU workers to make it less bureaucratic and linked to agreed-upon labor contracts.