By 2030, 470.000 Danish jobs will be lost to robots and digitization. However, the technical development will concurrently create 495.000 new jobs. Whatever perspective, robots are to change the Danish labor market radically.

The robot industry in Denmark is growing rapidly, followed by an increasing demand for skilled and talented employees.

“Recruitment is unquestionably the biggest obstacle for growth in the robot industry,” says Business Manager at Odense Robotics Mikkel Christoffersen. His words are backed up by a survey initiated by A&B Analyse in January 2018. In the survey, companies in the cluster organization were asked to assess whether recruitment of qualified employees challenges economical growth.

Recruitment is unquestionably the biggest obstacle for growth in the robot industry. – Business Manager at Odense Robotics Mikkel Christoffersen.

44 pct. of the respondents found the search for talents to be a very big or a big obstacle to growth and another 34 pct. experienced it as a problem, though a smaller one.

As the case for many in the tech industry, companies in the cluster organization struggles with finding the qualified and skilled workforce needed. High in demand are employees in especially 4 or 5 fields:

• Engineers – not only in robotics but also specialists in other areas
• Software developers
• Technicians who also holds skills within software
• Employees within sales and commerce, preferably having international experience
• Production labor

“The lack of engineers in the robot industry is widely known, but there is also a shortage of technically skilled employees. According to the survey, 40 pct. of the employees in the cluster organization has a technical background, and they are especially needed in companies working with robot integration,“ says Mikkel Christoffersen and refers to the companies which don’t produce the robot themselves, but instead works for integrating already existing robotics in industries.

100 job openings

In Odense Robotics several measures have been taken in order to attract talents. One of them is the creation of a joint job posting site, which, according to Mikkel Christoffersen, helps attract people with the right competences.

The companies in the cluster organization use the site whenever they have a job opening. In 2017 alone, the site had almost 600 listings, whereas some of them posted for multiple positions at once. At the moment, 100 job openings are to be found on the site.

“Coming together on a joint job posting site strengthens the companies’ position on the job market as the talents become aware of the great concentration of companies and the collaboration between them. To the talents, It becomes an opportunity to turn a job into a career within the robot industry (in Denmark),“ says Mikkel Christoffersen.

For several years, Odense Robotics has worked for securing a skilled workforce. Among other things, the cluster organization has initiated collaborations with research and educational institutions, promoted jobs and addressed the challenges within the industry to political decision makers.

Furthermore, the cluster organization supports promising startups within the field by offering an accelerator course in Odense Robotics StartUp Hub.

A growing robot company in search for nerds

One of the leading companies in Odense Robotics is Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR)

MiR develops collaborative, mobile robots for internal transportation in Danish as well as international companies. Based in Odense, the company had only three employees in 2015. By 2017, it has now grown to 60 employees and additionally 50 are expected to be hired before the end of this year.

In regards to growth, recruitment is our biggest challenge. – Thomas Visti, CEO, Mobile Industrial Robots

However, though MiR is a pioneer and firstmover within the mobile transport industry, CEO Thomas Visti struggles with finding the talent needed:

“In regards to growth, recruitment is our biggest challenge and we spend a lot of valuable resources on it. It is difficult and an obstacle. It influences the development of the company at a critical time as we grow very rapidly at the moment,“ he says and continues:

“Engineers are generally a scarce source in the robot industry, both nationally and globally. However, being a manufacturer of robots strengthens our position because we attract the nerds,” says Thomas Visti.

A good work environment is essential

Thomas Visti believes a good work environment where successes are shared is essential. In 2017, the company reached its goal of revenues of DKK 75 million, and judging by the sales so far, this year looks just as promising.

“For me, it is important to share this milestone with the employees. This is why we all board a plane in April to spend a long weekend in Barcelona Our objections for growth have been bold and reaching them deserves a celebration of all of us. We are a new, expanding business and we like to welcome our new colleagues properly. There are no narrow minded, rooted ways of conduct here and we take care of each other. We are all pioneers and thrive by being so,” explains Thomas Visti.

In order to create a sustainable framework for the many new and often young employees, two experienced employees joined the new company this January.

The new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) René T. Lydiksen and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Søren E. Nielsen collectively have 50 years of experience from work in Siemens, Danfoss, LEGO and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Along with them, they bring tools for organizing the rapid growth.

In regard to recruitment, their skills and experience can prove to make a big difference for MiR. Being part of Odense Robotics is also valuable, as the cluster organization is gaining an international reputation, making it easier to attract foreign talents.

“We don’t have a clear-cut solution for attracting new employees, but it is part of every decision we make. We have successfully made a name of ourselves in the market and aim to create an exciting workplace. Hopefully, word of mouth will lead to a line of new employees, all wanting to be part of this rapidly developing journey,” says Thomas Visti.