Only 5-10 percent of Syrian refugees arriving in Denmark have an education or the skills that can be immediately used here.

Job centres in Viborg, Skive and Herning estimate that only a small proportion of refugees arrive with immediately usable skills, despite Syria’s reputation as a country with good vocational and academic education programs.

“We had expectations of finding some very highly-trained individuals, but that has not been the reality,”  Sofie Steensgaard from Viborg Job Centre told DR Nyheder.

Harder to integrate
Lisbeth Sanders from the job centre in Skive echoed Steensgaard’s findings.

“Many have worked as unskilled workers in various fields, but they do not have the education or skills that can simply be transferred to a Danish workplace,” said Sanders.

READ MORE: Denmark is third most popular destination for Syrian refugees

The lack of skills makes integration more difficult for the new arrivals.

“We will need much more support from companies in order to get them trained up in any discipline,” said Sanders.