Job Market in Denmark
Updated 7.11.2018
Major industries
The major industries are within IT, shipping, energy, engineering, construction, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, trade, food production, and clothing. Recent growth areas are within wind turbine industries and manufacturing for global export. There is a general fear of the population is getting too old and that Denmark in the future will face a challenge with recruiting relevant employees. Specifically, we find an urgent and increasing need for
foreign specialists in a large number of industries in Denmark. Take a further look to the
5 regions to compare and read more.
Increasing need for specialists
The occupations with shortage of employees are especially found within various types of IT, pharmaceuticals, engineering, shipping, bio-technology, hospital services (doctors and nurses). If you look into the different regions and the companies, the regions have different demands for new employees. and the recruitment process takes time and can be costly, so we can only advise to make a contract before moving to Denmark. Looking into the different regions gives you benefits of easier access to the job market, because the competition is lower outside Copenhagen.
What’s it like working in Denmark?
● Average working hours is normally 37 hours.
● The holiday year runs from 1 May to 30 April.
● There are 12 official public holidays around the major Christian festivals and many workers also take Constitution Day (5 June) off.
● There are 5-6 weeks of annual vacation.
Language
The majority of the population speaks English, and
many work environments operate in English. However, you will greatly increase your employment chances, if you are willing to learn Danish and it is also beneficial in social settings to know the language. The language is similar to Norwegian and not too different from Swedish, so many will understand Norwegian and Swedish. Also some Danes speak good German.
Do you need a visa?
Most EU-citizen do
not need a visa or work permit, but citizen of non-EU countries may be required to have these documents. Applications for work permits for non-EU citizen must be initiated and submitted through Danish diplomatic missions (embassies or selected general consulates) in either the home or legal country.
If you expect to stay in Denmark for more than three months, you must apply for a
registration certificate which is necessary documentation to live and work in the country. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are part of Denmark but not part of the EU, so a work permit will be required for employment in these areas.
Information on residency ship, language information, personal ID and health insurance is available from the public organisations called International Citizen Service (ICS), which are located in the biggest city in each region. I recommend ICS, but you can also get some of the services from smaller municipalities, but it can be more time demanding. If you need more formal information, take a look at workindenmark.dk.
If you are from a non-EU country,
contact the Danish embassy in the country, where you are currently residing about how to obtain the visa and work permits. You might also find it helpful to contact your ministry of foreign affairs (or your embassy, if you are not living in your home country) to ask whether there are any issues to be taken into account when considering working in Denmark.
Sources:
Danish statistics
workindenmark.dk
International Citizen Service (ICS) webpage
Denmark
