Greenland turns to Filipino workers as labour shortage deepens

Greenland is seeing a rapid increase in workers from the Philippines and Thailand as businesses struggle to recruit locally, DR reports. The number of Filipino citizens in Greenland has risen from 160 a decade ago to more than 1,300 today.

Among them is 31-year-old Yasmin Yosores, who came to Greenland four years ago to work as a housekeeper at Hotel Hans Egede in Nuuk.

“It is a cold place,” she said. “But it is actually quite nice. If you live and work here, you get used to it.”

Hotels, restaurants and shops across Greenland now employ a record number of Asian workers. Around 1,900 people from Asia, including Filipinos, Thais and people from other countries in the region, live in Greenland, whose total population is 56,500.

Yosores moved north to earn money and secure a better future for herself and her two children.

“Three days of work here is the same as a month in the Philippines,” she said.

Businesses cannot find enough workers

At Hotel Hans Egede, Nuuk’s largest hotel, 30 of the 70 employees come from Asia. Managing director Jørgen Bay-Kastrup said the hotel would struggle to operate without them.

“They are good and stable employees. They are helpful,” he said.

Bay-Kastrup said he would prefer to hire Greenlanders, but rarely succeeds.

“There are not enough employees. There is simply nobody to hire,” he said.

Registered unemployment is low, at only a few per cent in Nuuk, while workers are needed throughout Greenland. The shortage affects trained staff such as nurses and skilled tradespeople, as well as unskilled jobs in hotels, shops, cleaning services and fish-processing plants.

The shortage is not simply the result of temporary economic activity. Greenland’s population is ageing, many people are retiring and the population is expected to fall by 20 per cent in the coming decades. Too few young people pursue education, while some Greenlanders are outside the labour market and have not registered as unemployed.

How workers come to Greenland

Businesses can recruit workers from abroad if they cannot find Greenlandic employees. They must obtain permission from both the immigration authorities and the municipality where the job is located.

The position must have been advertised for at least two weeks without attracting a suitable worker. It must also be full-time employment on what are described as customary Greenlandic terms, including pay, holiday and pension arrangements.

Work permits initially last two years and are typically extended one year at a time. If a worker loses their job and cannot find another, they must leave Greenland.

Workers can apply to bring their families, but family members cannot receive social benefits and must live with the worker. If the worker loses their permit, all family members must also leave.

The number of Filipino and Thai workers began to rise sharply in 2021, when Greenland and Denmark introduced a new fast-track scheme for foreign workers. A total of 172 Greenlandic companies are now registered with the scheme, according to Nalakkersuisut and Ny i Danmark.

Uncertain conditions

Filipino, Thai and other foreign workers come to Greenland on permits that are limited to one or two years at a time. Although their permits are temporary, many have now lived and worked in Greenland for years.

Some have brought their children and spouses, while others have had children during their stay. Those children have attended Greenlandic primary schools, and in some cases have never visited the countries where their parents are citizens.

This has created a large group of people who are glad to have work in Greenland but live there under highly uncertain conditions.

“It is a huge problem for many people. If they are fired, they are sent home. At the same time, they are responsible for family members who are also sent home,” said Kristine Juul, an emerita associate professor at Roskilde University who has researched the situation of Asians in Greenland.

The growing Asian population is also changing the streetscape. Thai restaurants serve dishes adapted to Arctic conditions, including red curry with reindeer and sweet-and-sour Greenland halibut.

In Nuuk’s industrial harbour district, the Arctic Sari Sari shop sells Asian ingredients including sauces, noodles, pig tails and bamboo shoots. John Yabut, 21, works behind the counter. Like all the shop’s employees, he is Filipino. He came to Greenland with his parents at the age of 13 and attended school there.