Matching Supply and Demand in Denmark

The process from the identification of new skills leading to the introduction of a new qualification involves many stakeholders. This is formally stipulated in the legislation, which states that the content of the qualification should as far as possible be based on analyses and prognoses of qualification demands.

The process includes the following actors and activities.

• The Advisory Council for Initial Vocational Education and Training (REU) advises the Minister of Children and Education on emerging demands for new qualifications and the closure and/or revision of existing qualifications based on labour market data.
• To support the work of the advisory council, the national trade committees produce an annual report on labour market developments relevant to the future demands for skilled workers in different occupations within the sector they represent.
• In addition, the trade committees and the Ministry of Children and Education may commission studies on future skills needs within a sector or an occupation, or cross-sectoral development relating to, for example, developments in robotics or transversal skills.
• The local training committees act as advisors to the local VET colleges and are co-writers of local curricula.

Together these actors are responsible for identifying skills and qualification needs as the basis for the development and adaptation of VET programmes.

Statistical data about VET and the labour market is available on the Ministry of Children and Education’s website at www.uvm.dk and on Statistics Denmark’s website at www.dst.dk. In addition, the Ministry of Children and Education issues a monthly statistical overview of signed and terminated apprenticeship contracts.

The Danish VET system is a demand-driven system. The purpose of the different mechanisms is to ensure a quantitative and qualitative match between supply and demand. Nevertheless, there are some structural mismatches, which are regional and sectoral in nature, and which are impacted by the wider structural changes in the economy. In some areas, it is a challenge to ensure a sufficient number of apprentices, as in manufacturing, while in other areas there are insufficient apprenticeship places. The number of students looking for an apprenticeship place is monitored in real time through a statistical tool managed by the Ministry of Children and Education.