The hunt for highly skilled labour

We have taken a close look at Workindenmark in Denmark and in India. We have spoken to Sweden's Counsellor of Labour Market Affairs in Beijing and we've met Indian IT engineers in Helsinki selling their services to Nokia. It looks like a good work environment and good social systems constitute the best bait.

In the coming years there will be an increasing need for the Nordic countries to attract and retain key workers from outside EU. The need arises partly from demographic developments, partly from increased international competition. The Danish government chooses to work actively to make it easier to tempt highly skilled workers to move to Denmark. But Denmark is not alone in doing this. All the Nordic countries have eased their rules to attract more foreign labour. Nordic Labour Journal presents the report below, see "Nordic region balancing".

- The Nordic Council of Ministers are branding Nordic culture and food - why not also the Nordic labour market," suggested Bo Smith, Permanent Secretary at the Danish Ministry of Employment, at a conference where the report was discussed.