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Digital nomads look away: Copenhagen is not your dream city, study confirms

Ben Hamilton
November 8th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

Recently reopened Melbourne tops ranking. Let’s face it, they’ve been getting plenty of practice at working remotely!

Work from anywhere these days! (photo: hippopx.com)

Copenhagen has ranked poorly in The Cities Best Facilitating Remote Work: A Global Index, a new study compiled by WorkMotion, the global HR platform, which assesses 80 global cities’ suitability to remote workers.

The study ranked 80 global cities according to their accessibility and attractiveness to digital nomads based on a variety of factors, with a focus on global employment compliance.

Recently reopened Melbourne topped the ranking (if anywhere is going to know about remote rankings!) ahead of Montreal, Sydney, Wellington, Prague, Toronto, Tallinn, Zagreb, Singapore and Dublin.

Top for happiness despite the high prices and taxes
Although Copenhagen only ranked 43rd, it was number one for happiness and third for ease of compliance.

The Danish capital was let down by its high taxes and affordability, ranking a lowly 77th in both categories.

It ranked a creditable ninth for LGBT+ Equality and 13th for Gender Equality, but was mid-table for Cultural Attractions (40) and Access to Healthcare (34).

Accelerated by the pandemic
The 80 cities were selected by WorkMotion for being the best they had dealings in.

“Although we had long anticipated the move to remote working, the pandemic has hastened the trend far faster than we could have imagined,” commented WorkMotion co-founder and managing director Carsten Lebtig.

“The technology for remote work was well-established and in use prior to the pandemic; what has changed in the intervening period is the mindset companies have towards remote working.”

Slow on the digital nomad visa uptake
Lebtig would like to see more cities offer a digital nomad visa, which allows remote workers to continue their employment in the country of their relocation.

However, only 11 of the 80 cities in the study currently do.

While Copenhagen does not offer one, six of the top ten do.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”