Craft workers’ wages rise faster than academics’ in Denmark

Danish craft workers have seen their wages rise more sharply than academics over the past five years. Calculations based on Statistics Denmark data put the increase for craft workers at 22%, according to chief analyst Jesper Grunnet-Lauridsen, who spoke to Finans.

Academics’ wages rose 17% during the same period, an increase that matched inflation, meaning the general rise in prices for goods and services. The figures indicate that wage growth has varied significantly between occupational groups even as most Danish employees received increases that at least kept pace with price growth.

Grunnet-Lauridsen said the difference may reflect the effect of supply and demand on pay. “We generally see high demand for craft workers, and that may have fed through into wages,” he told Finans.

He said academics may face the opposite pressure because more people are being educated in their fields than the labor market needs. That could help explain their more limited wage increases.

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We generally see high demand for craft workers, and that may have fed through into wages.