We are dependent on immigrants in our workforce, and it’s therefore deeply problematic that education doesn’t count as employment when applying for permanent residency or citizenship in Denmark, writes Danish Metal in a press release.
A new analysis from the union reveals that nearly half of the total employment growth in the past year can be attributed to non-Western immigrants. Excluding Ukrainians, the figure stands at nearly four out of ten.
– We are entirely dependent on immigrants in our workforce as things stand today, and therefore we need a paradigm shift. This means we must get rid of these crazy rules that keep foreigners out of the job market, prevent them from pursuing further education, or from staying in the country to help in the labor market,” says Erik Bjørsted, Chief Economist at Danish Metal.
33,000 more employed
The analysis by Danish Metal shows that employment has increased by nearly 33,000 people over the past year, though only one in five of these new employees are of Danish descent. The growth is partly due to substantial increases in employment rates among both men and women with non-Western backgrounds. For women from the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, or Turkey, the employment rate has risen by 18 percentage points since 2015.
Looking ahead, the number of Danes of working age is expected to decrease significantly. By 2070, Statistics Denmark projects 406,000 fewer Danes aged 15-69. With fewer Danes in the workforce, it becomes a necessary task to integrate even more immigrants and their descendants into the labor market. But, unfortunately, immigration policy often presents obstacles:
– Deeply problematic
– It’s deeply problematic that, to obtain a permanent residence permit in Denmark, you must have been employed for 3.5 out of the last 4 years. This can lead to immigrants avoiding or delaying education until they are certain of getting permanent residency, says Erik Bjørsted, adding:
– If education is postponed, many years can pass before someone receives their trade certification. It takes around four years to become an industrial technician. But if one first works for, say, four years to secure the right to permanent residency, it takes a total of eight years before they become an industrial technician.
Today, there are 4,000 unskilled foreign workers in the industry who arrived in Denmark over the past eight years, many of whom have yet to obtain permanent residency. Society would benefit greatly if they received vocational training, but many hesitate to take the plunge due to current rules.
