Denmark needs urgent job reforms to avoid workforce shortage: minister

Denmark must adopt reforms to expand the workforce this year or a shortage of workers in some areas will dampen economic growth in the future, Economy Minister Simon Emil Ammitzboll told Reuters in an interview.
After some years of mediocre growth, Denmark's liberal minority government now expects the economy to pick up this year and next by 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
But there is a danger of work bottle-necks. "We have to do some things both short-term and long-term to expand the workforce," Ammitzboll said.
He said the government would seek to raise the retirement age, increase the employment rate for foreigners, reform a lucrative grant system for students, and lower taxes to encourage the unemployed to find a job. His party, The Liberal Alliance, joined Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's government in November alongside the conservative party.