Opinion piece by Anders Bjarklev, President of DTU - Brian Mikkelsen, CEO of Danish Chamber of Commerce - Kristian Jensen, CEO of Green Power Denmark - Laura Klitgaard, Chair of the Danish Society of Engineers, IDA.
Published in Børsen on 27.03.2026.
Try listing all the companies in the Danish business sector you can think of that contribute to the green transition, the life science industry, or critical infrastructure. There are many.
Then try to find just one of those who do not have a significant number of engineers on their payroll. It’s almost impossible.
According to a new report made for DTU by HBS Economics, 17.7% of all highly educated employees within green transition are DTU graduates. In life science, the share is 18%, and in critical infrastructure, it’s 10.4%.
The demand for engineers will only increase, something which we as representatives of the Danish business community are acutely aware of. So is the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA), whose latest forecast shows that Denmark will be short of 16,500 IT and engineering graduates by 2035.
The obvious solution? Educate more engineers, of course. But that’s not the current plan.
As a result of the outgoing SVM government’s university reform, we must educate fewer graduates. At DTU, which is the educational institution in Denmark that produces the most engineers, this will result in 4,200 fewer graduate engineers by 2035.
Very costly
It’s difficult to understand how the soon former government—amidst a security policy crisis— where, for example, energy transition and critical technologies play a significant role for Denmark’s security and defence, has been able to make a deal that educates less engineers.
Fewer engineers is not just costly for the Danish business sector, it’s costly for the entire Danish society, which misses out on sustainable solutions, innovation, and, not least, growth.
HBS Economics’ analysis shows that the reduced intake of BSc students at DTU will impact Denmark’s GDP negatively with up to DKK 500 million annually.
Turning this calculation upside down, the new figures also show the positive impact on Denmark’s GDP if we instead educated more graduates.
Each MSc Eng graduate from DTU contributes an average of DKK 41 million to Denmark’s GDP over a working life—DKK 41 million!
Add to this that their tax payments—minus expenses for education, health, and welfare—constitute a plus of DKK 20 million.
More, not less
The message from the Danish Chamber of Commerce, Green Power Denmark, the Danish Society of Engineers, IDA, and DTU for the coming government is therefore clear: We need to educate more engineers, not less.
The political answer has previously been that young people can just take one of the vacant engineering study places outside the largest Danish cities. But it should not be a zero-sum game. Young people who want to become engineers should be able to do so, no matter where in the country they dream of studying.
As recently as this summer, DTU had to reject 789 qualified first priority applicants—while many of the places in Denmark remained vacant.
It’s a loss for all parties involved when the universities have to say no to educating talented young people who want to be engineers. We know that they land jobs quickly, and they add enormous value to society.
If Denmark is to solve the problem of a massive shortage of engineers, while at the same time boosting GDP and competitiveness in the critical sectors, sector resizing in the engineering area must be removed.
It benefits the business community. It benefits growth. And not least society.
