Indian nurses are applying in huge numbers to work in Denmark, but consultants cloud the issue

The number of Indian nurses wanting to work in Denmark has increased dramatically this summer – possibly in part to some shady recruiting companies in their homeland.

Between June and August, 4,507 Indian nurses applied for authorisation to work in Denmark, up from only 30 last year.

The Association of Danish Regions, which administrates the nation’s hospitals, said it welcomed the news that so many had applied, but added it was unlikely that all applicants would be successful.
‘We are always happy to take on well-educated labour if the authorisation is approved. But of course we can’t take 4,500 at once even if they are qualified, because it’s a huge task for hospitals to integrate foreign employees,’ said the chairman for the regions’ health committee, Ulla Astman.

It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,500 extra nurses are needed to cover the labour shortage in Danish hospitals.

However, it appears that some Indian consultancy companies are making a quick buck off the news that Denmark needs more nursing staff.

Last year, a Danish company targeted India to train and attract nursing staff to Denmark. Jobikon trains nurses in India and cooperates with Danish hospitals looking to recruit foreign staff.
Jobikon director Niels Prip told The Copenhagen Post that the latest surge in applicants was not down to his company – which is currently training 10 nurses in India to work in Denmark – but due to unscrupulous Indian firms making money from local nurses.

The Danish Foreign Ministry set up a local Work in Denmark office in New Delhi last October to assist in recruiting specialists to Denmark and, according to Prip, word spread that there was a shortage of skilled workers in Scandinavia.

‘Work in Denmark has done a great job, but the side-effect was that a few companies in the south of India picked up on the fact there was a shortage and advertised in local papers for nurses to work in Denmark,’ said Prip.

According to the director, these companies charge a fee of several hundred dollars to process the application for authorisation.

However, Prip said applicants were only granted temporary authorisation if they secured a job offer in Denmark, which the Indian companies did not facilitate.

‘These nurses have a good reputation, but they probably won’t get jobs because they need someone here [in Denmark] to represent them. So there are a couple of companies that make a lot of money and a lot of disappointed nurses,’ Prip said.

The head of the Work in Denmark Centre at the embassy in New Delhi, Per Asp Larsen, confirmed there had been a proliferation of businesses for middlemen consultants in the Asian country.

‘At least half of all the applications we get come through consulting companies that often advertise far-reaching promises, such as shorter processing times.’

Larsen said the latest wave of nursing authorisation applications had not been processed through his centre, but were sent straight to the National Board of Health by companies who sometimes ‘do not provide their clients with all the necessary information’.