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PIONEERS

Danish government presents plan to recruit skilled foreign labour

Minister for immigration and integration Inger Støjberg and employment minister Troels Lund Poulsen presented Wednesday a 21-point programme aimed at smoothing the way for companies who want to attract skilled workers from abroad.

Published: 3 October 2018 15:07 CEST
Danish government presents plan to recruit skilled foreign labour
Minister for immigration and integration Inger Støjberg and employment minister Troels Lund Poulsen present the government's plan to assist companies recruiting skilled foreign labour. Liselotte Sabro

The programme seeks to “make it easier and less bureaucratic for Danish companies to attract and employ foreign labour,” the Ministry of Employment said in a press statement.

Decreasing unemployment figures and a growing Danish economy, along with companies signalling they were in need of skilled labour, were behind the new initiative, according to the government press release.

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen confirmed in his speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday that the government would look to support Danish companies in this regard in the coming parliamentary term.

Companies running into red tape and struggling to fill key positions could have a longer-term negative impact on jobs, growth and welfare, according to the statement released on Wednesday.

“Foreign labour is beneficial for all Danes in the form of increased growth and more kroner in the public purse,” the statement read.

A key element in the package, details of which were published on the Ministry of Employment website, includes adjustment of the pay limit scheme (beløbsordningen in Danish), a provision that enables companies to hire employees who are nationals of non-EU, EEA or EFTA countries provided they are paid a set salary.

The minimum salary to qualify for the scheme will be reduced from 418,000 kroner to 330,000 kroner for nationals of countries on the list of top 30 investment flow countries to Denmark (provided they are not already covered by free movement).

The package also proposes updates to the so-called ‘positive list’, a list of specialities within industries in which Denmark currently lacks highly skilled labour. Degree-level qualifications within the fields covered by the list can qualify a foreign employee for a working visa in Denmark.

The proposal also includes streamlining and simplification of rules and application processes for foreign nationals working in Denmark.

“We have strict immigration policies so there is control over influx. But we must also give Danish companies the best possible basis for attracting necessary and qualified labour. Talented people from abroad are of great benefit to Denmark and an important element of growth and progress,” Støjberg said in the statement.

Poulsen said the initiative was an important step in order to avoid leaving Danish companies at a disadvantage.

“In a time when the labour market is under pressure, we must set all our sheets to the wind to secure qualified labour for companies all over the country. Otherwise, we could end up in a situation in which we absolutely must not find ourselves, where companies say ‘no’ to orders and we lose jobs,” Poulsen said via the statement.

The minister also said that the programme would not result in Danes being kept out of work.

“We are not opening ourselves to foreign labour without ensuring that it competes on equal terms with Danish labour. Foreign labour is in no way the solution to all recruitment problems. We will therefore continue our work to provide jobseekers with qualifications, giving them the skills that businesses need,” he said.

The Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI), a private interest organisation funded, owned and managed by 10,000 companies within the manufacturing, trade and service industries, welcomed the government announcement.

“We receive the new strategy for international recruitment from the government very positively. We have asked for better access schemes for international experts for some time, and also for simplification of the rules,” Linda Wendelboe, head of global talent with DI, told The Local on Wednesday.

“These are things we have asked for for a long time and we’re very happy that the government has accommodated some of our requests in the new proposal,” Wendelboe said.

“From our side, there’s a serious problem in Denmark related to lack of qualified labour and we need to make it more flexible for companies to recruit internationally,” she added.

According to figures from national bureau Statistics Denmark, unemployment fell by 600 between July and August this year. 11,200 people gained employment during the 12 months prior to August 2018. The exceptionally high employment figures are a warning sign given the current struggles of many companies to fill positions, DI has argued.

READ ALSO: Denmark must be better at selling itself to foreign talents: CEO

INTERNATIONALS

Denmark opposition leader rejects calls for skilled labour from outside EU

Mette Frederiksen, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, says Danish companies do not need increase efforts to hire skilled foreign workers from outside the European free movement zone, despite calls by business representatives for Denmark to attract highly-qualified labour.

Published: 3 October 2018 14:29 CEST
Updated: 3 October 2018 16:10 CEST
Denmark opposition leader rejects calls for skilled labour from outside EU
Mette Frederiksen thinks Denmark should not smooth the way for skilled foreign workers from outside the EU. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Frederiksen’s comments came in response to Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday.

In the speech, Rasmussen confirmed his government would launch a programme aimed at bringing in skilled foreign workers from abroad.

“Tomorrow, the government will present a programme which will make it easier (for companies) to attract staff from countries with which we already have strong bonds. Such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan,” Rasmussen said in his speech.

Minister for immigration and integration Inger Støjberg and employment minister Troels Lund Poulsen on Wednesday officially presented a 21-point programme aimed at smoothing the way for companies who want to attract skilled workers from outside the EU, EEA or EFTA.

READ ALSO: Danish government presents plan to recruit skilled foreign labour

But Denmark has no need for such workers, according to Frederiksen.

“I don’t agree with the prime minister. He wants to import labour from, for example, Africa and Asia to the Danish labour market,” Frederiksen said to Ritzau, omitting countries not on those continents but included by Rasmussen in his speech.

“That is endlessly short-termist. Firstly, we have many young people who are currently not doing anything. It is better to invest in their education,” she said.

“We also have unskilled workers who should be given the chance to gain skills and women who are working part-time,” she added.

Frederiksen argued that Danish companies who lack skilled workers could look to the EU labour market, which she considers sufficient to make up any shortfall in skilled labour already present in Denmark.

“I would very much like to help solve bureaucratic problems met by companies in their attempts to attract skilled labour.

“But it’s a ‘no thanks’ to easing the way for skilled labour from third countries,” she told Ritzau.

The Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI), a private interest organisation funded, owned and managed by 10,000 companies within the manufacturing, trade and service industries, rejected Frederiksen’s claims that Denmark would not benefit from skilled labour from outside Europe.

There would be no benefit in restricting Danish companies to drawing employees only from within the EU, Linda Wendelboe, head of global talent with DI, told The Local.

“This is not a question of one way or the other, we need to do both. We need to be better at educating the talent we have within Denmark, we need to get better at bringing in the employees we can from the rest of Europe, and we also need to look at the broader perspective and attract the talent that (companies) need from outside Europe,” Wendelboe said.

“So it’s not a question of, ‘should we do one thing or another’, it’s a question of companies really needing access to the best talent from all over the world, so we need to do both,” she added.

The organisation’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said that Denmark would be putting its economic upturn at risk by reducing opportunities for skilled foreign workers.

“There is absolutely a risk. When companies cannot find staff to carry out work, they are forced to say ‘no thanks’ to new orders and taking on work,” Nielsen told Ritzau prior to Wednesday's official presentation of the plan.

“That will give us lower growth than we otherwise could have,” he added.

Nielsen also said he was positive about the government strategy for international recruitment.

“It is a very good idea to try to bring more foreign workers to Denmark. We have a strong need for it. There are currently good job opportunities for jobseeking Danes. They have good opportunities to find work,” the DI deputy director said.

“But we also need to bring in foreign labour,” he added.

According to figures from national bureau Statistics Denmark, unemployment fell by 600 between July and August this year. 11,200 more people gained employment during the 12 months prior to August 2018. The exceptionally high employment figures are a warning sign given the current struggles of many companies to fill positions, DI has argued.

READ ALSO: PM, opposition leader discuss employment of skilled foreign workers at conference