Copenhagen - Post Report Question and Answers
What types of jobs do most expatriate spouses/partners have? Locally based or telecommuting? Full-time or part-time? Can you comment on local salary scales?
It’s pretty hard to break into the Danish work market. Most spouses work at the embassy or telecommute. - Aug 2024
Some spouses work at the Embassy and some work online. - Feb 2022
The only EFM jobs in the Embassy that I know of are in the Community Liaison Office (CLO) and security escorts. Most spouses telework back home because unless you're in a specialized field that accepts foreigners and conducts business in English, you'll need to speak fluent Danish. - Jun 2021
There is a handful of EFM positions at the embassy. They are slowly declining as positions are turned into local-hire employment. This has made some hardship for families that need the second income due to the extreme expense of living in DK. Some spouses telework for companies back in the States. Most spouses want part-time work so they can meet the needs of their young children at school. Unless you speak Danish, finding a job on the local market is extremely difficult. Summertime is more difficult for those with young children. There are no programs for your child for the summer, so if the spouse works, it's either pay a babysitter $20+/hr to care for the kids, or arrange a mix of a 3-week day camp and babysitters the rest of the time. All of which is extremely costly. - Jul 2016
No. Though all Danes know English (well), Danish is spoken in virtually all work places. In my time here there was only one spouse who worked on the local economy. - May 2014
Yes. - Feb 2014
There are jobs for highly qualified, although they do prefer to hire Danes. - Aug 2011
Not really. There are some opportunities, but unless you speak a fair amount of Danish or have a highly sought after skill, your chances of getting a decent job locally is slim. - Jul 2011
