Photograph: Destination Aarhus
Text: Destination Aarhus
Aarhus and Eastern Jutland is home to many internationally-minded companies and organisations that all contribute to the internationalisation of this area. International
Community shows you the diverse scene on which internationalisation is built.
Companies have for some time been realising the need for highly skilled internationals. This is evident in the story behind the coalition, Destination AARhus. Founded to attract and retain international IT-professionals, Destination AARhus is unlike others not publicly funded - it was created by and for local companies.
While many Danish companies are well equipped to employ internationals, far from all are where they need to be. What they all have in common, though, is the recognition for how much they need highly skilled IT-professionals now or will in the nearest future. While Danish Universities over the years has increased the number of IT graduates, more and more companies are also becoming increasingly digital. This escalates the demand for employees to a point where educated Danes are no longer sufficient in numbers. We need to look outside the borders of Denmark to successfully strengthen the competitive edge and bring local companies into a more digital and innovative future.
By companies, for companies
While Denmark offers help and guidance for internationals through several organisations and public institutions, a rare coalition of companies has recently appeared in Greater Aarhus. Looking only a few years back, in 2017, a handful of Greater Aarhus' biggest companies decided to form a coalition. Despite their differences in industry, from banking to consultancies and toy manufacturing, they all shared a common need for highly skilled IT-professionals and thus founded Destination AARhus.
The coalition attests to how much these companies value, attracting the right internationals. By sharing insights and knowledge companies across, they put aside competition to help each other better on-board IT-talents. And by investing in Destination Aarhus, they support the understanding that a coordinated and transparent process in close collaboration across companies, organisations and public institutions is crucial in attracting, welcoming and retaining internationals.
"While many Danish companies are well equipped to employ internationals, far from all are where they need to be." - Destination Aarhus
An international future
Denmark is small, and the Greater Aarhus area is even smaller. International IT-professionals are in high demand across the world. Many countries, organisations and companies want their attention, so the individual companies from Greater Aarhus faced a challenge. Their voices were not loud enough to be heard, and the IT-place brand was not strong enough to help draw attention. Today, Destination AARhus represents 12 leading companies all voicing their common goal together, thus slowly putting Greater Aarhus on the IT World map.
As an international, an essential element for deciding to move to a different country and deciding to stay is that there are interesting job opportunities in companies open to hiring internationally. To see, that the business landscape is shifting, and more companies actively invest in knowledge about what makes an excellent on-boarding process into a new job (in a new country) is unique for this time. Looking back over the years, internationalisation is more and more actively discussed within companies. Internal changes are being made to accommodate internationals. Collaborations between companies and organisations are increasing. Destination Aarhus represents how companies see their future. And that future is increasingly international.
Company profile
Destination AARhus is a coalition currently consisting of 12 companies, who annually invest in a business network, where we through collaboration innovate, re-think and develop better ways to attract internationals, make the local IT environment more attractive and share best practices when it comes to welcoming, including and retain-ing internationals.
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