Denmark construction SMEs face persistent labor shortages

New data from SMVdanmark reveals a widening gap in labor availability within the Danish construction and civil engineering sector. While large companies have seen a significant reduction in labor shortages, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to face persistent challenges.

As of September 2026, 29 percent of employees in SMEs report that labor shortages are limiting production. In contrast, only 16 percent of employees in large companies report similar constraints. This represents a 13 percentage point difference, a sharp increase from September 2025, when the gap between large and small firms was only one percentage point.

Niels Storm Knigge, chief economist at SMVdanmark, noted that the perceived improvement in the industry is primarily driven by the large companies. The level of labor shortage among SMEs has remained largely unchanged compared to the previous year. According to the SMVdanmark business barometer, the current disparity is the largest seen in the sector since June 2021.