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Number of Ukrainian refugees working in Denmark triples in one month

The number of displaced persons from Ukraine who have jobs in Denmark increased three-fold between April and May this year.

Published: 8 June 2022 13:06 CEST

People march in support of Ukraine in Copenhagen

People march in support of Ukraine in Copenhagen in April. The number of Ukrainians working in Denmark has risen sharply. Photo: Nils Meilvang/Ritzau Scanpix

Preliminary figures from May show 1,055 Ukrainians hired on the labour market in Denmark compared to 320 in April, the Employment Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The figures encompass people from Ukraine who fled from the country after the invasion by Russia on February 24th this year.

The ministry said it expects the total to further increase because companies can register tax on staff earnings in May until the deadline of June 10th.

“One in seven (Ukrainian refugees) have found a job since the war broke out and that’s very good going,”” employment minister Peter Hummelgaard said.

“We want them to work, and they fortunately have a large appetite for it,” he added.

The minister also said that many Ukrainians are still awaiting work permits and that others are waiting to be allocated housing or childcare.

Latest figures from the Danish Immigration service (Udlændingestyrelsen) show that around 30,000 Ukrainians have been granted residency in Denmark under a special law passed earlier this year.

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Foreign workers in Denmark 'create 300 billion kroner of value'

Increasing employment in Denmark in recent years is due in no small part to international labour, and the high rate of international employment, couple with a continued low unemployment rate, underline the need for workers from abroad, the Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI) said in a press release on Monday.

An analysis from DI based on Statistics Denmark data found that, between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign nationals working full-time in paid employment in Denmark increased from 147,000 to 309,000.

The 2023 level is equivalent to 13 percent of overall employment in Denmark being attributable to foreign labour, DI said.

“You cannot overestimate the importance of international labour in Denmark,” DI’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said in the statement.

“If they had not been here and made the contribution they do, we’d not have been able to produce goods, treat the sick or build the amount of houses we need,” he said.

“It is good business in every way because it means our labour market and business sector is functional, but also because international colleagues are worth billions to Denmark,” he said.

International labour created some 282 billion kroner of value within the Danish economy last year, according to DI’s analysis. That is reportedly a new record and equivalent to 11 percent of the country’s total value output.

“Employment has fallen and the economy would have done the same [shrunk, ed.] ifwe had not had our international colleagues. We owe them a big thenk you for their contributions to Denmark’s progress,” Nielsen said.

The DI deputy director said the analysis showed the continued importance of making Denmark attractive to foreign labour.

READ ALSO: Foreign workers report increased appeal of Denmark and Copenhagen in study

“The coming years will see fewer Danes of working ages. So to retain the affluence and welfare we have today, we must continue to gratefully receive international labour,” Nielsen said.

“A simple and effective measure would be to also allow foreigners from outside of the EU to come here if they have a job offer in line with collective bargaining agreements. That would make an immediate difference,” Nielsen said with reference to the salary and other labour standards set by Denmark’s collective bargaining system.

The business representative underlined that such workers should not be allowed to stay in Denmark if their work circumstances ceased.

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