Earning kroner during the summer is a strong pull for many eastern Europeans

High pay for even unskilled jobs has Europeans flocking to Denmark this summer in an effort to earn quick money, according to figures from state job recruitment portal WorkinDenmark.

Around 24,000 EU residents have already registered with the portal this year, many in the hope of landing a seasonal job. However, WorkinDenmark can only offer a scant 1,800 summer jobs.

In 2008 – prior to the recession – around 10,700 people were registered in the portal.

Eastern Europeans are in particular interested in coming to Denmark, willing to earn what they can through jobs such as strawberry picking.

According to WorkinDenmark’s figures, Romanians lead the pack of those standing in the summer job queue. Poland, Bulgaria, and an economically wounded Spain round out the top four countries flooding both the Danish portal and its EU counterpart, Eures.

‘This year has been very different, with people coming here to the office, calling us and sending us frustration-laced emails,’ said Lise Lotte Brandt, job counsellor at Eures. ‘They’ll do anything for anything, just tocome to Denmark.’

Between 6,000 and 8,000 summer workers are employed in Denmark each year, according to the Danish Agricultural and Food Council.