Financial sector once again at the bottom of the ranking: Employs few in flex jobs
Despite a slight improvement, new figures show that the financial sector remains at the bottom of the ranking when it comes to getting people with reduced working capacity into jobs.
This places the financial sector at the bottom of the class in terms of hiring people in flex jobs. And that’s not good enough, states Steen Lund Olsen, Vice President of Finansforbundet.
“I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or tear my hair out – but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised,” he says.
In comparison, 7.5 out of 1,000 workers were employed in flex jobs in the remaining financial sector, including insurance and pension, which employs roughly as many as banks and mortgage credit institutions.
The private sector overall had 27.3 employees in flex jobs per 1,000 employees.
More flex jobs in physical industries
A flex job is an offer to individuals who, due to their reduced working capacity, are unable to work under normal conditions.
And even though the number of flex jobs has increased slightly from 2024 to 2025, it does not change the overall picture; i.e. that banks and mortgage credit institutions perform the worst when it comes to hiring flex job employees.
Even more physically demanding industries such as manufacturing, construction and civil engineering as well as raw material extraction have more flex job employees.
This is significant because the sector's organisational conditions for integrating flex jobs are good: sizable workplaces, administrative functions and well-established HR environments.
"Hence, the ambition of the sector should of course be to also make banking and mortgage credit a flex job-creating industry," says Steen Lund Olsen.
"Completely insane"
And, interestingly, flex job candidates are not in short supply. Unemployment among individuals referred to a flex job was 14 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the general unemployment of 2.9 per cent.
And it's a waste of human skills and resources, believes Henriette Friis Højer, Managing Director and founder of Flexfabrikken, an organisation helping people with reduced working capacity find work.
“It’s absurd that good people are being sidelined. We need them back in the game,” she says.
And it should be possible to find tasks for them in precisely an industry like the financial sector, finds Henriette Friis Højer. She points out that some 130,000 people have been granted flex jobs in Denmark.
“They represent all of Denmark and have very different skills,” she explains, encouraging employers to ignore the wide-spread prejudice about flex job employees.“
They do not only fetch coffee or water the flowers. You have to shake things up and rethink the image of employees in flex jobs. They are not just unskilled workers; there are lots of redundant academics in flex jobs.
And a flex job employee might just as well solve AI or GDPR-related tasks or whatever may be needed," she says.
Stop counting the hours
Henriette Friis Højer therefore encourages companies to think in tasks rather than position. She believes that many of the tasks that are not solved could be handled by flex job employees.
“We need to stop counting to 37 hours a week because many jobs emerge before we get to that number,” she says, underlining that it is also an advantage for companies.
"I know that organisations that succeed in having greater diversity have better teams, a higher degree of psychological safety in their jobs and higher efficiency rates," she explains.
Steen Lund Olsen from Finansforbundet does not doubt either that it is only an advantage to employers if they hire more flex job candidates.
“Imagine having such a great appetite for working and having collegiate relations that you want to contribute, even if it's only for a few hours a day or a week. That’s dedication,” he says.
Flex job
-
The job centre may grant a flex job to individuals who are incapable of getting or keeping a job under normal conditions in the labour market due to their reduced working capacity.
-
In a flex job, the employee’s reduced working capacity is taken into account.
-
A flex job is usually temporary.
-
When a person has been employed in a flex job for 4.5 years, the municipality must assess if they are still entitled to a flex job.
-
The employer only pays for the hours that the employee in a flex job works.
-
The municipality supplements the pay by a subsidy that is adjusted based on the income from the employer.
Source: Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment
Highlight the successful stories
Finansforbundet's Steen Lund Olsen praises the financial services companies that are successful in terms of flex job employment, and he hopes that more companies will be inspired.
"Fortunately, there are stories of success throughout our sector – let's draw attention to those that create flex jobs to inspire others to follow," says Steen Lund Olsen.
And one of the successful stories concerns support adviser Dorthe Skovby. When she fell ill, she received help and support from her employer at Djursland Bank. Read her story here.