According to a COWI report, around 30,000 more employees will be needed each year towards 2030 if Denmark is to meet the 70 percent target. Therefore, Thursday’s adoption of changes to the Aliens Act, which make it easier to hire international employees, is an important step towards solving society’s problems in obtaining labour.
– Praise to the government, praise to the parties behind the broad settlement. International employees are of great value to Denmark and to the green transition, and I take my hat off to the fact that the politicians are taking many steps to facilitate access to international labour, says CEO of DI Sandahl Sørensen.
Necessary for the future
The DI director emphasizes that the adoption of the new law is necessary for Denmark’s future.
– With the law, the politicians take the first step towards the big problem on the labor market. For many years, international employees have been responsible for the growth of the Danish labor market and a very large part of Denmark’s economic growth, and I would argue that it would be a stumbling block for Denmark’s green transition if the rules for hiring international employees were not eased, says Lars Sandahl Sørensen.
12 percent foreigners
Out of 100 wage earners in Denmark, 12 of them now have a passport other than Danish. In the autumn of 2022, the Danish labor market reached 300,000 international full-time employees – this is more than a doubling since 2008.
The most important changes with the new law are that the amount limit is lowered to DKK 375,000. It can help the companies to recruit especially more skilled labour. More SMEs can also be certified to recruit international labor from non-EU countries more quickly and easily. And international students who complete a degree in DK now get 3 years of job searching instead of the current 6 months.
Facilitate access
– It is very positive that the agreement regulates many areas to facilitate access to international employees. This not only benefits the companies, but the entire society. In general, more employees available on the labor market will also remedy the lack of employees in the public sector, says Lars Sandahl Sørensen.
Problem throughout Europe
The lack of labor is the same in most European countries. In Poland, Romania and Germany, the three countries from which Denmark recruits the most, there is a prospect of five million fewer people of working age in seven years.
– Denmark is not alone in lacking labor – both unskilled, skilled and specialist – in the coming years to maintain prosperity, develop growth opportunities and implement the green transition. And in the coming years it will be more difficult to recruit from non-EU countries in Denmark’s immediate area. The competition is tough, and Denmark must make an extra effort to attract the necessary workforce, says Lars Sandahl Sørensen.
Wants to start a conversation
The new rules come into force on 1 April. But the DI director is already looking forward to the next step. – The government foundation has more ‘in the pipeline’ about international labour. I hope that the government will present this sooner rather than later. Then we can, for example, clear some of the existing tensions regarding international labor out of the way. For example, let’s start a conversation about the existing bank account requirement, says Lars Sandahl Sørensen.
