Danish companies and public services are increasingly finding recruitment difficult: as the population grows older native Danes are leaving the labour market, and the national birth rate has dropped significantly. The employment rate of people with a migration background in Denmark, though, has never been higher: Danish building sites are depending heavily on migrant workers from Poland, for example, and nursing homes on migrant workers from Pakistan.
 
Denmark has now reached six national records when it comes to the inclusion of foreign nationals in the labour market:

1. The percentage of people with a non-Western background* (first and second generation) in employment is at 64%, a new record for the third year in a row.
2. Last year saw the greatest annual rise in the employment rate of people with a non-Western background, at 5.3%.
3. The gap between the employment rates of ethnic Danes and those with a non-Western background has never been smaller, at 15.3%.
4. The employment rates of migrants from Western countries* (first and second generation) is at its highest for 40 years, at 72%.
5. Last year also saw the greatest annual rise in employment rates for migrants from Western countries: 3%.
6. The gap between the employment rates of ethnic Danes and those with a Western background has never been smaller, at 7.3%.

According to integration expert and researcher Hans Lassen, “255 000 people from non-Western countries are now employed in Danish jobs, and without them, vital functions in society would collapse. The rise in employment rates for this group can only partly be explained by economic patterns: the main reason is an improvement in human capital. Qualification through education and language training is essential.”

* 'Western' countries are understood in Denmark to be: all EU countries plus Andorra, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United Sates and the Vatican.