Who keeps Denmark running?

As international hiring accelerates, Kelly Draper Rasmussen explores the sectors driving growth and the workers behind it.

Photograph / Graphs: Pexels: Cottonbro Studio / Kelly Draper Rasmussen

Text: Kelly Draper Rasmussen

There is a big shift in Denmark’s workforce. The number of internationals working in Denmark has grown by a third to almost 370 thousand over the last four years. This structural shift is driven mostly by full-time workers, but now one in four new workers is part-time. Which types of resident permits are driving this shift, and what professions have an increasing number of internationals?

International workforce trends

In the figure above, we can see how the makeup of international workers is changing over time. The increase in EU workers is slowing. This will be related to the gradual decrease in net migration of EU citizens since 2022, a pattern seen across Europe. When you account for both full- and part-time work, there is a huge uptick in non-EU international workers here on study permits. There is also a gradual increase in non-EU workers here on work permits, though the vast majority of those are full-time workers.

Rising sectors, flatlining tech, and temporary workers

Looking at all full-time international workers in Figure 2, we can see that the fastest-growing sectors are public administration, education, and health. I'd like to know how those three categories break down, but those figures aren't available. Manufacturing is also going gangbusters. One thing that jumps out is that the IT and communications field has completely flatlined. There is supposed to be a tech skills shortage in Denmark, yet the number of internationals in tech jobs hasn’t changed since 2023. The reason isn't clear from the data, but maybe it has something to do with ChatGPT's 2022 debut?

When you include part-time jobs, the transportation industry is exploding. This more than doubling is primarily because of part-time non-EU workers on study permits. If you exclude part-time workers, the growth of international workers in transportation is not as dramatic. Maybe it’s all the food delivery drivers out there?

The international workforce of Denmark is increasingly being built on study permits. Recently, there was controversy in the Danish media about students from abroad seeking to access the Danish labour market. This was framed as a negative for Denmark and the labour market. But if those students had not taken those jobs, who would have? Would those industries have grown without their contributions?

Also remarkable is the role of workers switching to permanent residency. If you strip out temporary permit holders and look at changes in industries driven by them, we find that almost no new IT workers were recruited, either full- or part-time. The larger industries growing because of full-time working internationals on temporary permits are Hospitality (e.g., hotels and restaurants) and Professional Services (e.g., white-collar professions).

Non-EU workers are taking on full-time work permits at three times the rate of EU workers. In a country ambivalent about immigration, it is remarkable that the fastest-growing segments of the international workforce are those with the least job security. That is, study permit holders working part-time. Study permit holders account for nearly one in five new foreign workers. Denmark is getting the labour it needs, but it is less clear that those workers are getting what they need in return. Danish employers and consumers have come to rely on a workforce increasingly built on temporary permits rather than on EU free movement. What happens to the Danish economy if that supply of workers is reduced?