Denmark

Denmark has 6.0 million people and an employment rate above the EU average: 79.8% of people aged 20–64 have a job (EU: 76.1%).

Unemployment has risen in recent years – from 4.5% in 2022 to 6.4% in 2025 – and is now slightly above the EU average of 6.0%. Youth unemployment (15–24) is 13.8%, below the EU rate of 15.2%.

As an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen you do not need a residence or work permit. If you stay longer than three months, you register and get an EU residence document. A big plus: according to the public recruitment service Workindenmark, most positions do not require Danish – though some do, especially in healthcare.

EURES names the sectors facing labour shortages in Denmark: construction, IT, engineering, hotels, restaurants and catering, and healthcare.

Workindenmark, the public service for international recruitment, lists ten sectors with good job opportunities for skilled and highly qualified candidates:

• engineering, ICT and robotics, life science,
• business and finance, healthcare,
• service and hospitality, industrial manufacturing,
• transport and logistics, construction and green energy.

The EURES report on labour shortages for 2025 lists, among others, chefs, bakers and pastry cooks, bus and tram drivers, early childhood educators and managers in aquaculture and fisheries as shortage occupations in Denmark.

Start with the public portals:

• Jobnet – Denmark’s national public job portal,
• Workindenmark – the public service for international recruitment, part of EURES, with job search, guides and advisers for international jobseekers,
• EURES – the European job portal.

Most applications in Denmark are submitted online. Employers expect a CV and a motivation letter adapted to the specific position – do not send the same letter everywhere.

For step-by-step advice on job search, CVs and interviews in any EU country, see our How to find a job abroad – 10 practical guides.

A Danish application usually consists of:

• a CV,
• a motivation letter adapted to the specific position.

The Europass CV and cover letter editor can help you prepare documents that employers across Europe understand.

Diplomas and regulated professions: some professions in Denmark require an authorisation, and you can get an official assessment of your foreign education. Workindenmark explains where to apply on its page on work permits, authorisation and assessment.

• No statutory minimum wage. Pay and working conditions are usually set in collective agreements between trade unions and employers’ organisations – the “Danish model”. Ask whether your job is covered by one.
• Working time: in many industries a normal full-time week is around 37 hours; it may vary with the job and sector.
• Holidays: full-time employees get at least five weeks of paid holiday a year. You accrue 12.5% of your salary in holiday allowance, which corresponds to 2.08 days of holiday for every month you are employed. Holiday earned from September to August can be taken until the end of December of the following year.
• Contract: if you work for at least a month and more than eight hours a week, your employer must give you an employment contract describing your conditions – usually with a reference to the collective agreement.
• Tax: taxes are high, but so are wages; the system is progressive.

Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland can work in Denmark without a permit, on the same terms as Danes. Pay and conditions follow the collective agreement or your contract.

• Even for a student job you need a CPR number and a tax card (see “Your first weeks”).
• From 2026 you pay the 8% labour market contribution from the year you turn 18.
• Many large companies run graduate programmes – Workindenmark collects them on its graduate programmes page.

Thinking of studying there first? See Studying in Denmark – practical information.

1. EU residence document: if you stay longer than 3 months, apply within 3 months of arrival (as a jobseeker: within 6 months). After the online application you must appear in person at a branch office of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) or at an International Citizen Service (ICS) centre within 30 days.
2. CPR number (civil registration number): register at your Citizen Service centre or an ICS centre. You need the EU residence document and a permanent address.
3. Health insurance card (the “yellow card”): it arrives by post about 2 to 3 weeks after you get your CPR number.
4. Tax card (skattekort): apply at skat.dk up to one month before you start work; you need your CPR number. Your employer deducts tax from your salary, including the 8% labour market contribution on all salary income.
5. NemKonto and MitID: everyone needs a NemKonto – an ordinary bank account where your salary and payments from the authorities go. For MitID, the Danish digital ID, you need a CPR number.

Problems with your rights as an EU worker? Your Europe Advice and SOLVIT help for free.

If you are not a Nordic, EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you need a residence and work permit – even if you hold an EU Blue Card from another EU country. The main routes are described on the official portal nyidanmark.dk (New to Denmark). One example:

• Pay Limit Scheme – for a job offer paying at least DKK 552,000 a year (2026 level) for at least 30 hours a week, on Danish terms. You need a Danish bank account in your own name. The application fee is DKK 6,810.

Check nyidanmark.dk for the other schemes for skilled workers, researchers and graduates of Danish universities before you apply.

• Eurostat – population on 1 January, unemployment by age, employment rate (data for 2025 and 2026),
• EURES – Living and working conditions: Denmark, report on labour shortages and surpluses 2025 (annex),
• Workindenmark – sectors with high demand, terms of employment, holiday allowance, employment contract, residence and work permit,
• Life in Denmark – residence for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, when you arrive,
• Danish Tax Agency – your guide to working in Denmark, labour market contribution,
• New to Denmark (SIRI) – Pay Limit Scheme,
• Your Europe – working abroad.

Updated: October 2026.