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Employee education and attraction
25th of March 2026 Article by Lotte Printz
Lotte Printz in Denmark on new collaboration between ISS Danmark and Technical Education Copenhagen (TEC) to help tackle the shortage of skilled labour.
“We are proud to have established a programme tailor-made for our company, in collaboration with TEC, but with ISS operations managers providing significant input to the programme. The result being ‘close-to-practice’ training elevating professional standards in the cleaning profession. This is not only an asset to us as a company; it also serves as a clear demonstration of qualifications for the individual employee,” Henrik Løkke, learning & development manager, ISS Danmark, says in a press release.
This newly established collaboration with Technical Education Copenhagen (TE), tested as a pilot project at the end of 2025, will boost the profession further and formalise training.
“The pilot project clearly showed how important it is for participants to have this opportunity to upgrade their skills – and we can help them in that respect,” Maria Vedsegaard Veha of TEC says in the press release.
Five hundred ISS contract cleaners are expected to complete the programme in 2026 alone, and it will become an integral part of the mandatory onboarding programme for future ISS staff.
Unemployment rates are currently low in Denmark, and we are looking into a future where skilled labour is imperative. So, this initiative may have societal impact.
“Since the 1960s we have created opportunities for people coming to Denmark. As part of the job at ISS, we offer Danish language courses and can now add training at an official educational institution offering high professional standards to the package. This creates great jobs for individual employees, while at the same time driving an increase in the labour force with more skilled workers,” Christian Lauritzen, director people & culture, ISS Danmark, adds in the press release.
Being able to attract international staff – by offering formal training like this for instance – is of utmost importance. In a blog post in the industry magazine Rent i Danmark, Thomas Gress, chief economist at SMVdanmark (a trade organisation for SMEs in Denmark), stresses that foreign labour is no longer simply a supplement to, but a prerequisite for growth in large parts of the corporate sector in Denmark.
A recent analysis made by SMVdanmark shows that foreign nationals constitute nearly 25 per cent of the workforce in the capital district – a number catching up in all parts of the country, though.
The analysis also shows that more than 50 per cent of the wage earners in the Copenhagen area work in the retail, transport, hospitality and cleaning industry. So, the analysis confirms what most companies within the cleaning and facility services sector know from their everyday operations: without access to foreign labour, it will be difficult – in some cases impossible – to carry on business.
Despite this general, significant increase in international employees, the shortage of labour is still one of the greatest barriers to growth in SMEs. And as a result, SMVdanmark makes a plea to Danish policy makers: “If we want to secure continued growth and maintain stable tax revenue, it is paramount that we facilitate the recruitment of international manpower. Today, there are rules and regulatory systems that remain obstacles, for SMEs in particular,” Thomas Gress says speaking to Rent i Danmark.
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