Today, an engineering graduate can go straight from university and out into the job market with a starting salary of € 6113.53 per month, plus bonus schemes and employee benefits.
After ten years in the job market, most monthly salaries round-up to a healthy € 8768.10. What this means is that engineers thus place themselves at the top of the list of salary incomes in Denmark.If you look at an average engineer’s salary, the lowest earning 10% earn around € 6971.57 a month, before bonuses and employee benefits, while the highest 10% earn around € 11663.98 .
The latest Danish salary report among engineers in Denmark (IDA salary statistics 2023) disclosed promising results. In 2023, Danish engineers received an average salary increase of 6.5 percent (in the private sector). This figure largely comprises young engineers. In fact, recent graduates with up to five years on the job market accounted for the largest increase in paychecks of almost 10 per cent. It is worth mentioning that this is the largest increase in 15 years and this stands out in comparison with the wage development in the rest of society.
“These are good times for young engineers. Their knowledge and skills are needed in all corners of society. We can see this through the rising wages, and the low levels of unemployment,” says Mikael Bergholz Knudsen, head of department for Electrical and Computer Technology at Aarhus University.
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This is possibly the best time to join the engineering workforce in Denmark. The unemployment rate for engineers is approximately 2 per cent, and there is no prospect of the engineering shortage stopping in the coming decades.According to Mikael Bergholz Knudsen, however, both the unemployment and salary levels also reflect that young engineers come from university with a lot to offer.
“There are really large wage increases for the youngest engineers in the job market, and of course that is due to the fact they are highly skilled and can create great value in companies, almost immediately. This has been very clear, in our experience,” he says.
At Aarhus University in Denmark, it is clear that engineering students are in high demand. Here, getting an employment contract before graduation is more of a rule than an exception.
“Companies are beginning the talent-hunt earlier and earlier. Many of our students get several job offers as they approach their final exams. It’s really something we can notice,” says Mikael Bergholz Knudsen.
“We are aware that there is fierce competition for young engineers in Denmark. For us, it therefore means a lot that we can build a relationship with them, while they are still students,” says Louise Daa Løfquist, Employer Branding Specialist at Systematic A/S.
Companies abroad have are also turned their attention to Aarhus’s engineering students.
HR-manager Birgit Høj Lorenzen from the Swedish-owned group Saab tells us:
“Our business is based on technology, and therefore our ability to attract skilled engineers is absolutely crucial. We want to connect with them while they are still students, and we do a lot to offer them attractive internship opportunities with us.”
Wilson Felipe de Souza Netto chose to study chemical and biotechnical engineering because he is interested in sustainability and dreams of leaving a positive impact on society. Alongside the high salary, he enjoys the work/life balance found in Danish companies.
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Companies abroad have are also turned their attention to Aarhus’s engineering students.
HR-manager Birgit Høj Lorenzen from the Swedish-owned group Saab tells us:
“Our business is based on technology, and therefore our ability to attract skilled engineers is absolutely crucial. We want to connect with them while they are still students, and we do a lot to offer them attractive internship opportunities with us.”
For some students, classroom learnings have also opened doors to real-world opportunities. For Rojin Gomez, his thesis on refrigeration and heat pump technologies is directly linked to the work he currently does on research and development in the same field. The AU mechanical engineering graduate says, “My education is vital to my current role in all aspects. While I was deciding my thesis topic, my supervisor Dr. Pourya Forooghi had mentioned that this would open opportunities and that came true!”
The current scenario has left many students feeling positive. “I hope my future in Denmark involves staying here for the long haul. I would like to settle down, keep working within this field... and eventually learn Danish,” Rojin Gomez says.
One of the young engineers that has felt the companies’ demand for him is Kåre Jensen, a civil engineer in Computer Technology, from Aarhus University.
“Everyone from my year group was contacted by companies before they had graduated from their engineering Bachelor. There was not a single one who had not gotten a permanent job offer, before they got their diploma. It feels really good, and it is cool to see that there are so many possibilities,” he says.
For Kåre, though, it is primarily his burning interest in space research, and not a fat pay check, that motivates him in the long run. So when he got the opportunity to participate in the university’s space program, he didn’t have any doubts about studying further to become a Master of Science in Civil Engineering. In terms of industry and corresponding salaries, engineers who work in energy supply, IT, the pharmaceutical industry or consultancy earn the most.
