Denmark
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a small Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The mainland is located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway. Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, granted home rule in 1948 and 1979, respectively. Political life in Denmark is orderly and democratic. Political changes occur gradually through a process of consensus, and political methods and attitudes are generally moderate. Denmark is a member of the European Union
Inhabitants: 5.5 million
Area: 43,094 km2
Capital: Copenhagen (1.6 million)
Languages: Danish
Religion: Protestant
GDP per capita: $ 37,000
Government: Democracy
Climate: Temperate
Short overview of the labour market
From 1 August 2009 Danish employment initiatives and the public employment service will be based in 91 municipal job centres. The country is also divided into four employment regions: Zealand/Capital, South Denmark, Central Jutland and North Jutland.
People from other EU/EEA countries can go to the nearest job centre when they arrive in Denmark to look for work. All job centres should be able to deal with people and businesses from the EU/EEA, including providing information as to which services the public sector Work in Denmark service can offer foreign job-seekers and Danish businesses.
Work in Denmark supplements the efforts of the job centres. Work in Denmark consists of the website, workindenmark.dk, and three service centres, located in Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus and so covering the east, south and west of the country respectively.
Work in Denmark centres
The Work in Denmark centres help foreign job-seekers, among others, to find employment in Denmark, whether they are already in Denmark or applying from their own countries. The centres are also part of the International Citizen Service, which provides an easy introduction to the workings of the authorities in Denmark. At the International Citizen Service, foreign job-seekers and their families can get help with paperwork (for example, when submitting an application for and receiving a certificate of registration, CPR number, health care card, tax card, etc.).
Up until 2008, Denmark was characterised by high employment and very low unemployment, and the number of commuters from Sweden and Germany in particular grew strongly. Meanwhile, the economic crisis has led to a rise in unemployment, which had risen to 7.4% in August 2011, which is, however, 2.4 percentage points below the European average. Denmark will continue to have a shortage of labour in some areas. In the coming years the public sector in particular will be characterised by a shortage of qualified workers, such as health workers and care workers in the eldercare sector. In addition, there will be a need for well-qualified specialists in the private sector, including in the areas of IT and biotechnology/pharmaceuticals.
Denmark has a population of 5.5 million inhabitants and the labour force is around 2.7 million. The country is a service and knowledge society. Around 75% of the labour force is employed in public and private services, commerce, transport and communications. Only 3% of the labour force is employed in agriculture. Denmark has a well-developed, tax-financed welfare system. This means that around a third of the labour force is employed in the public sector.
Denmark is characterised by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, and in recent years it has been among the ten most competitive countries in the world.
The well-known businesses include names such as Maersk (shipping and oil production), ARLA (dairy products), Novo Nordisk (pharmaceuticals), Brandtex (clothing), Bang & Olufsen (radio/TV), Danfoss (air conditioning and heating), Grundfos (pumps), Velux (windows), Lego (toys) and Vestas (one of the world’s largest wind turbine producers).