5.1 Labour Force Structure
5.2 Educational Level
5.3 Development Trends in Unemployment
5.4 Supply of Technical Expertise in the Workforce
5.4.1 Engineers
5.5 Language Capabilities

Most OECD countries are facing the same trend in labour force in the years to come. De facto, though, the magnitude of the problem is much smaller in the Oresund Region than in the majority of e.g. the other EU countries.

The labour force in the Oresund Region totals about 1.5 million persons. Figure 5.1 describes the composition of the labour force by age and sex.

The average age in the work force is 40 years, and it is expected to rise in the years to come according to an ageing population. The young generations entering the labour market are too small to compensate for the retiring ages. Irrespective of the expected rise in the size of the population as a whole in the Oresund Region, the change in the age distribution of the population will imply a minor decrease of about 1% until 2005 in the size of the population in the working ages in the region. However, this trend is not unique for the Oresund Region.

Figure 5.2 shows the populations (and labour forces) distribution on highest attained education level.

Because of the use of widely different statistical methods in measuring the level of unemployment in Denmark and Sweden respectively, it is not possible directly to compare unemployment figures across boundaries.

According to ILO standards for Labour Force Statistics, the level of unemployment in the region as a whole is estimated at about 8% in 1996. The level in the Danish part of the region alone is estimated at 7% and the level in Scania is estimated at 11%.

In the period since 1995 the unemployment rate in the Danish part has decreased significantly, while the level in Scania has increased as shown in figure 5.3 below.

The total number of engineers in the Oresund Region amounts to app. 50.000 persons, see figure 5.4.

The fact that Denmark and Sweden are relatively small and open economies necessitates strong foreign language capabilities of the population. At school children are developing English language capabilities already from the age of nine to ten years, and German language capabilities from the age of about 13 years.

For instance, a survey made by the EU, Eurobarometer, in 1995 shows that three out of four Danes and Swedes are speaking English well enough to take part in a conversation. For the EU countries in general only one out of two are speaking English well enough to carry out a conversation.

Among young Danes and Swedes between 15 and 24 years almost all speak English well enough to carry out a conversation. A survey made by Eurobarometer in 1997 shows that more than 95% of the young people in Denmark and Sweden are speaking English well enough to carry out a conversation, whereas only about 50% of the young people in EU on average are able to carry out a conversation in English.