Wild growth engine: The Fehmarn project brings Lolland into the Top 10

From the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2023, employment in Lolland Municipality grew by 1,000 people. This is the sixth-highest increase in Denmark in absolute numbers. And if you look at the percentage growth in employment, only Gladsaxe Municipality north of Copenhagen has had greater growth during the period.

In recent years, it has otherwise been far from an everyday occurrence for Lolland Municipality to be a growth center. And at the Confederation of Danish Enterprise, which asked Statistics Denmark to make a special run on municipal job growth, the figures also raised eyebrows:

– We noted that Lolland was in a place where it usually isn’t, and it’s quite a sharp increase, says Tore Stramer, Chief Economist at the Confederation of Danish Enterprise.

The Fehmarn project is the locomotive
It cannot be read directly from the figures where the many extra employed have gotten jobs. But Tore Stramer has no doubt that the Fehmarn project is the locomotive driving the growth:

– It’s somewhat the sum of its parts, and we can’t see it in the figures. But there is no doubt that such gigantic construction and infrastructure projects become a little bomb for a local labor market, says Tore Stramer.

Number seven on the list of municipalities with booming employment – just below Lolland Municipality – is also Kalundborg, where Novo Nordisk’s gigantic expansion has also provided 1,000 extra employees in 2023.

Generally moving forward
At the Fehmarn Belt Development Fund, Director Stig Rømer Winther is also in no doubt that the Fehmarn construction is driving the growth. But he also points out that business in Lolland is generally moving forward quickly:

– I think it can largely be attributed to Fehmarn. But in general, there is also strong activity in large companies, for example on West Lolland, such as Vestas, says Stig Rømer Winther.

The wind turbine manufacturer Vestas recently announced that they will hire up to 200 new employees for the factory in Nakskov.

More new jobs – For foreigners
The question remains whether the labor market in the Fehmarn Belt region is even large enough for all this growth.

– One should not ignore the time that has gone well. And I would not be surprised if another 700 – 800 new jobs appeared when the Fehmarn project peaks in the coming years, says Stig Rømer Winther from Fehmarn Belt Development.

– The trend is generally upward – also into 2025. And we cannot manage that in Denmark alone, so there is no doubt that we will need foreign labor well into the future, says Tore Stramer from the Confederation of Danish Enterprise.