People and working conditions
Since 2023, Nordstern has followed an ESG strategy focusing on our company’s environmental impact, as well as social and governance matters
Social Strategy
At Nordstern, we address the company’s environmental matters and implement specific initiatives relating to employment, education and working conditions. Our ESG strategy provides a common framework for collecting data, documenting these initiatives and monitoring the defined targets.
Our construction projects affect the areas in which they are built. During construction, activities may affect neighbours, traffic and the immediate surroundings, while the completed buildings become part of the local community. We therefore consider relevant local conditions in our planning and in our dialogue with the project stakeholders.
Some of the initiatives we implement include:
- Engaging young people in disadvantaged social housing areas during renovation projects, for example through small paid-job schemes.
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Employing people who have been outside the labour market for an extended period in supported employment, job-training programmes, part-time positions and work placements through NExTWORK. The aim is to give them a fresh start in either employment or education.
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Requiring our subcontractors to contribute to vocational training through apprenticeship clauses, which form a standard part of our contracts.
Health and well-being for the employees
When measuring our progress within the social pillar of our ESG strategy, our employees remain our primary focus and top priority. Our goal is to create the safest and healthiest working environment in the Danish construction industry. Most of our social strategies and targets therefore focus on our employees and the contractors working on our projects.
Our target is to maintain a sickness absence rate below 2%. We achieved this target in 2024, with an average rate of 1%, excluding long-term absence. In 2025, the sickness absence rate, including long-term absence, was 2.5%, unchanged from 2024 when measured on the same basis.
Stress is one cause of long-term absence, and we aim to lower its incidence through various initiatives. These include our project manager network, where colleagues from across the company meet several times a year to gain inspiration and build lasting professional relationships.
We also implement a range of other initiatives to improve our employees’ health and wellbeing, including:
- Nordstern Sport where the employees organize various sports activities that motivate them to have an active everyday life and foster good corporate spirit.
- Offices and construction sites have e.g. height-adjustable tables and fruit schemes.
- We also support campaigns that promote public health, including the cancer awareness campaign Knæk Cancer.
Education and Job Opportunities in Construction
We take our responsibility for educating and developing the skilled workers of the future seriously. We collaborate closely with vocational colleges and technical schools to combine practical experience with theoretical knowledge. This supports young people entering the construction industry and gives them the opportunity to experience working on a construction site.
We have had good results from employing people who have been outside the labour market for a period and need support to return. In collaboration with job centres, we work to create employment opportunities for people undertaking work trials. We establish clear expectations with the job centre’s mentor and monitor the individual’s wellbeing throughout their employment.
To inspire young people to consider a future in construction, we invite school classes and students from upper-secondary education programmes to visit our construction sites. They gain insight into how the different construction trades work together and meet professionals who explain what their work involves. We have established partnerships with educational institutions throughout Denmark, enabling students to follow the construction of projects including new educational buildings and major renovations.
Our experience shows that introducing young people to the industry at an early stage can spark their interest and give them a better understanding of the many career opportunities available in construction.