Employers should drop the undignified fight for more foreign labor and concentrate their efforts on creating more training places for the thousands of Danish young people. Employers should drop the undignified fight for more foreign labor and concentrate their efforts on creating more training places for the thousands of Danish young people who want to be skilled. This is the opinion of the union secretary of Denmark's largest trade union 3F, Søren Heisel.
- Employers are completely failing young people. The new figures on apprenticeships from the Ministry of Children and Education show that we are miles away from achieving the goals we agreed on almost ten years ago. Employers are failing their responsibility for training, while they have spent a lot of energy begging politicians for more labor outside the EU. It is almost hypocritical and in no way proper, says Søren Heisel, who is deeply disappointed by the new figures for the creation of apprenticeships in Danish companies.
In 2016, the trade union movement, employers and the government entered into a tripartite agreement on apprenticeships, with the overall objective that by 2025 at the latest, at least 8,000-10,000 more training agreements should be concluded compared to 2016. (SOSU and PAU trainings were not included, as they are dimensioned through separate agreements and are therefore not covered by the tripartite objective).
The new figures from the Ministry of Children and Education show that up to November 2024, 560 more apprenticeships have been created compared to the starting point in 2016. This is miles away from the objective of 8,000 to 10,000 more apprenticeships that the parties agreed on in 2016.
- It is unfortunate at a time when there is a real need for skilled labor. We must demand that employers take much more responsibility for training their future workforce. This will be good for society and for the employers themselves, says Søren Heisel.
3F believes that it is necessary to discuss the financial incentives for setting up apprenticeships and especially the consequences when companies do not live up to the responsibility they have agreed to.
- For example, we have a system where employers who do not set up apprenticeships must pay a fine, which must then be paid to employers who set up more apprenticeships than they are required to as a minimum. Here we should seriously consider whether we should tighten up both the stick and the carrot, says Søren Heisel.
- It is a huge societal problem that employers obviously do not take their training responsibility seriously. This must change here and now if we are to preserve growth in Denmark and our wealth and shared values. Our patience is soon wearing thin, which is why we at 3F are prepared to use tougher measures, says Søren Heisel.
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