Some 10 percent of all employees in Denmark are foreigners born outside Denmark – a significant rise over the last decade.
According to Danmarks Statistik, just one out of every 14 workers was foreign-born in 2009.
Over the last five years, the country has seen a net increase of 75,000 international workers.
READ MORE: More foreigners than ever employed by Danish companies
Necessary to meet demand
According to Peter Halkjær from the Dansk Erhverv business interest group, the increase was necessary given the demand during the economic revival – a need for international knowhow that started some 15 years ago ahead of the financial crisis.
“As long as this demand continues, we won’t run into the possibility of their employment affecting the chances of Danes getting jobs,” he told TV2.
Harder to recruit
Jonas Felbo-Kolding, a labour market researcher at the University of Copenhagen, envisages it becoming harder to recruit workers from countries such as Poland and Romania, as Denmark’s elderly population continues to grow.
“The struggle for labour will become harder when Poland and Romania try to hold onto the same migrants that Denmark, Sweden and Germany would like to entice,” he said.
Polish workers account for the largest share of foreign workers in Denmark, followed by people from Romania, Turkey, Germany, Lithuania, Syria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the UK, Iraq and Iran.
