The unemployment rate is likely to drop by a third in the next couple of years and 8,000 jobs are expected to be added to the Icelandic economy, reports newsagent Vísir. However, according to a new report from the Directorate of Labour (Vinnumálastofnun), most of the new jobs generated will not require a university degree.
Registered unemployment was 2.7 percent in November 2015, compared to 3.3 percent during the same period in 2014. This number is expected to drop further within the next couple of years.
Read more: Iceland needs at least 5,000 immigrants in the next four years to ensure adequate labour supply
“We are experiencing a bit of an economic boost, especially within the tourism sector. We believe this growth will soon spread to other industries as well,” said Karl Gíslason, one of the report’s authors.
The tourism and construction sectors have already begun to experience a labour shortage which continues to grow and can only be filled with imported labour.
As Iceland Insider reported in September, economists at Arion bank predict that the number of foreign guests visiting Iceland will reach around 2 million by 2018 and to meet the projected growth the industry will have to hire foreign workers.
The unemployment rate is likely to drop by a third in the next couple of years and 8,000 jobs are expected to be added to the Icelandic economy, reports newsagent Vísir. However, according to a new report from the Directorate of Labour (Vinnumálastofnun), most of the new jobs generated will not require a university degree.
Registered unemployment was 2.7 percent in November 2015, compared to 3.3 percent during the same period in 2014. This number is expected to drop further within the next couple of years.
Read more: Iceland needs at least 5,000 immigrants in the next four years to ensure adequate labour supply
“We are experiencing a bit of an economic boost, especially within the tourism sector. We believe this growth will soon spread to other industries as well,” said Karl Gíslason, one of the report’s authors.
The tourism and construction sectors have already begun to experience a labour shortage which continues to grow and can only be filled with imported labour.
As Iceland Insider reported in September, economists at Arion bank predict that the number of foreign guests visiting Iceland will reach around 2 million by 2018 and to meet the projected growth the industry will have to hire foreign workers.
