Jobs in Iceland

Reykjavik is the northernmost capital in the world, and at about 120,000 people it is the only thing that resembles a major metropolitan area in Iceland. Reykjavik is where most international workers find jobs in Iceland. Software and IT developers are always in demand, and there are jobs in the hospitality and tourism industries, especially for workers who speak multiple languages and have mastered at least a smattering of Icelandic.

It’s a compact city, painted in bright colors that offset the often-bleak weather. Relatively quiet during the workweek, chaos breaks loose on the weekends, with the runtur, a pub crawl that draws tourists, students, and natives alike. It centers on downtown’s main drag, Laugavegur Street, which turns into an impromptu music, arts, and food festival. Reykjavik is the jump-off point for everywhere else on the island and has become an international conference center by selling its location between North America and Europe.

The second-largest city in the country, Kópavogur, at about 31,000 is basically a suburb of Reykjavik. It is at least slightly less expensive to live in than Reykjavik though, making it a good place to commute from, but available jobs in Kópavogur are at the low end of the salary spectrum -- child care, work in hotels and inns, or in retail (Kópavogur happens to be the home of Iceland’s largest shopping mall).

Akureyri, on the north coast, has a population of about 17,000. It sits in a deep fjord, and because its harbor stays ice free, it is a center for the country’s fishing industry. It’s also a big tourism draw for skiers, fishers, and whale watchers. Most of the work in Akureyri is seasonal -- twenty percent of the workforce is in the service industry -- primarily catering to tourists. Cruise ships stop there in the summer, and there is also seasonal work in fish processing plants.