Difficult to obtain labor in the Triangle Region
In December 2025, nearly one in four recruitment attempts in Southern Denmark were unsuccessful (24%). An unsuccessful recruitment attempt should be understood as a recruitment that either must be completely abandoned or ends with the hiring of a different profile than desired. Recruitment challenges were particularly significant during 2021 and 2022 under covid-19 in Southern Denmark. Since 2023, the level has been stable around 24-25% unsuccessful recruitments. It is thus still a challenge to obtain the desired labor in Southern Denmark, including the Triangle Region.
It is important to note that the original RAR areas (the regional labor market councils) have been dissolved and replaced by regional employment councils. Southern Denmark now consists of both South Jutland and Funen, whereas previous data was shown for South Jutland alone. This means that previous graphs are not directly comparable with the latest data.
Recruitment challenges in Southern Denmark are higher than the national average when looking at the total share of unsuccessful recruitments. Although the number of recruitment attempts that are completely abandoned is the same in Southern Denmark as in the rest of the country, the number of recruitment attempts where a different profile than the desired one is hired is higher in Southern Denmark compared to the rest of the country. This shows that it can be difficult to obtain the right labor both in Southern Denmark and nationally.
Unemployment in the Triangle Region is extremely low and at the lowest level among metropolitan areas in Denmark. This supports the picture that it can be difficult for companies in the area to obtain the right labor. This is also part of the explanation that a large share of those employed in the Triangle Region come from municipalities outside the Triangle Region, and that a large part of the employment growth comes from foreign labor – since a very small part of the available workforce in the area is unemployed.
The development over time shows a marked decline in unemployment over the past ten years, both in the Triangle Region and in the rest of the country. From 2022 to 2024 there was a slight increase, but during 2025 the figures point downward again. In the 4th quarter of 2025, unemployment in the Triangle Region was only 2.35% of the workforce – a level normally considered structural unemployment (estimated at about 3% according to the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank). This means that the labor market in the Triangle Region is effectively close to full employment.
About unsuccessful recruitments and unemployment
The number of unsuccessful recruitments shows how difficult companies find it to recruit the labor they need. Based on STAR’s recruitment survey, where they continuously contact companies that have posted positions as electronic job ads and ask about the status of their recruitment attempts approximately 4 months after posting the job ad. Recruitment attempts can either be 1) successful, 2) unsuccessful but filled with a different profile, or 3) unsuccessful, the position was not filled. The unsuccessful recruitment rate indicates the share of recruitment attempts that are unsuccessful. The unsuccessful recruitments are reported for the five regional employment councils. The Triangle Region is part of Southern Denmark.
The number of unsuccessful recruitments is a more precise measure than unemployment for companies' ability to find the desired labor; however, the statistics exist only for the whole of Southern Denmark and not specifically for the Triangle Region. Therefore, unemployment is included, as it allows us to zoom in on the Triangle Region. Full-time unemployed as a percentage of the workforce aged 16-66 is an indicator of how much labor is available in the area. Higher unemployment will, all else equal, mean it becomes easier for companies to obtain the right skills. To be classified as unemployed, one must be without work, available for the labor market, and actively seeking work. In this calculation, the unemployed are converted to full-time persons for the period and related to the size of the workforce in the area. The workforce is the part of the population whose labor is available for the labor market and who are either employed or unemployed.