Bentiaraq Ottosen: We cannot do without foreign labour

It is gradually have become a permanent part of the cityscape in Greenland: Foreign employees who work in restaurants and hotels – and many have even learned a little Greenlandic.

- The reality is that we cannot do without foreign labour, says Bentiaraq Ottosen.

It is gradually have become a permanent part of the cityscape in Greenland: Foreign employees who work in restaurants and hotels – and many have even learned a little Greenlandic.

- The reality is that we cannot do without foreign labour, says Bentiaraq Ottosen.

But it is not only in the service industry that demand is high. Also welfare institutions and that public sector is in dire need of hands from outside.

- We all know that our healthcare system needs for staff, he adds.

Listen to the entire conversation with Bentiaraq Ottosen in the podcast, where he elaborates on his visions, among other things. The podcast is in Greenlandic.

The number of foreign citizens in Greenland have increased by as much as 75 percent over them past five years. Today, approximately 2,300 live there – but even that is far from enough.

- We are missing around 1,000 employees. If we choose development, it is important that we also offer foreign labor welcome, says Ottosen.

Although foreign workers arrive in the country, there is currently no requirement that they learn about it Greenlandic society or language – simply because there isn't one integration policy.

- That's why it's ours goal in naalakkersuisut to make an integration law in this election period, emphasizes Ottosen.

The vast majority of the foreign workers come from Asian countries such as Thailand and The Philippines. According to Statistics Greenland, there are currently 1,770 people from these countries - and some of them actually have an education in their baggage, which they do not get allowed to use.

Untapped resources

- There are a few there are educated who may not have had a chance to use it, among other things within the health sector. Therefore, there are people who work in the shops, explains Ottosen.

For example, it requires approval from the Chief Medical Officer for a Filipino nurse to work in it Greenlandic health service, but naalakkersuisoq believes that there should be flexibility.

- I mean, it is very important to open them up somehow by finding opportunities, he says, pointing to a possible solution for those who have been to Greenland in the past five years.

80-20 Scheme

For Bentiaraq Ottosen balance is important - especially in the public sector. He imagines a distribution where 80 percent of the employees are local and 20 percent are foreign.

– 80 Percent of the company's employees must be resident, the remaining 20 percent can be from abroad. It is important that there is a balance, so that the company is too protected, he says.

But in reality it often looks different – especially in the restaurant industry, where the entire staff in some cases is foreign. Here he does not want to impose the same requirement.

- Freedom is a lot important here if the company is private, he says.

He doesn't see either some problem with foreigners working in public institutions – on the contrary.

- Because reality is that we lack staff in the nursing homes. I have traveled around Qeqqata Commune and have been told that the elderly feel safe if someone comes foreign workforce. The elderly feel safe because, as they say, it is fine – as long as we eat our food the way we do, he says.

Low work ethic among young people

Another challenge is the more than 2,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who are neither in work nor under education.

- I also wanted to watch them because I want to give them a way to enter the labor market, and I want to give them a chance, he says.

He believes that conscription can be a way forward because it gives young people the opportunity to learn discipline. In a KNR election program earlier this year, he was the only one among the parties' representatives who agreed to the idea.

- I think it is important to point out that work ethic can be low among young people, he says.

But the solution is not military service only. Bentiaraq Ottosen also points to the elderly as a resource to raise the young people's work ethic.

– For example, can older people help to show the way and use their experiences so that they can participate to raise work morale, he says.

He wants children and young people learn the value of work from an early age.

- Therefore, I think that the learning and opportunity we can get from the elderly, and would like to encourage day care centers and schools to start receiving visits from the elderly. It will benefit the future work ethic, he says.

Integration policy

Bentiaraq Ottosen does it is clear that the lack of welcome of foreign labor to a large extent is due to the absence of a real integration policy. The work was started during the former Naalakkersuisut and is now resumed.

- The Integration Act is not just a law that must help foreign labor to become more integrated in Greenland society. It is a law to help them learn our language, ours values and our culture to know in this country, he explains.

Naalakkersuisut must be in time with a labor market reform, and when it all rolls, there are several things, they must decide on. One of them is the fast track scheme, where companies can quickly bring labor to the country. Right now there are 159 companies involved in the scheme.

- We have fixed the track scheme, which I support, but there is also something within that that needs to be done is assessed, says Ottosen.

However, he states that The Integration Act should not be confused with immigration policy.

- I don't want that Greenland must become a refugee country. I'm not comfortable with that. Therefore is it is also important to separate immigration policy and integration policy, says Bentiaraq Ottosen.