'Blue chip' Danish companies that continue to slash jobs in this country are on a hiring spree abroad.
Over the past five years, 13 of Denmark’s flagship names, all listed on Copenhagen Stock Exchange’s trend setting C20 index, hired 34,000 new employees in countries such as the USA, China, and emerging growth markets, but shed 4,600 jobs in this country. Experts expect the trend to continue for years to come.
“It’s a warning that we need to heed, although it’s still too early to say whether it’s beneficial or damaging to Denmark,” said Professor Torben Pedersen of Copenhagen Business School (CBS). “On the one hand it seems to imply that costs in this country are too high and Denmark isn’t an attractive country to invest in. On the other hand it’s a sign that Danish companies have embraced global development and continue to grow.”
Pharmaceutical giant Lundbeck has increased its workforce significantly abroad over the past few years, but in contrast to others retains the same number of employees in this country today as it did in 2004. The company outsourced 70 per cent of production eight years ago, but after improving productivity levels by 25 per cent has now brought around one in four home again. A spokesman said: “In 2004 we weren’t really aware of how effective we could be. We shouldn’t have outsourced, but we did. We’re wiser now.”