Reykjavík cuts 884 full-time-equivalent positions in 18 months

Reykjavík had 8,382 full-time-equivalent positions in its A-part operations on October 1, down 884 from April 2025, mbl.is reported. The number of positions was 9,266 on April 1 last year, according to the latest Municipal Yearbook.

The city’s positions amount to 8.6% of Reykjavík’s 97,375 residents aged 18 to 70, based on the latest figures from Statistics Iceland. Reykjavík’s website, however, says the city employs about 11,000 people.

Mayor Hildur Björnsdóttir said the difference reflects the number of part-time workers, including staff at swimming pools and after-school centres. In election years, several hundred temporary workers are also hired for tasks such as staffing polling stations, with the cost covered by the state.

Most employees dismissed from the city’s central administration are still on the payroll while serving their notice periods, Björnsdóttir said, so the proportion is expected to fall further. Recent dismissals have reduced central administration by 17.3%, saving 2.3 billion krónur, she said.

Björnsdóttir said the city aims to keep central administration below 7.5% of its total full-time-equivalent positions, leaving 92.5% for services directly to residents. She said part-time work is common in those services, including at after-school centres, swimming pools and in welfare services.

She said Reykjavík’s responsibilities make it difficult to compare its administrative structure directly with those of neighbouring municipalities. The city, she said, has a particular capital-city role, provides a range of welfare services, has extensive cultural operations and participates in running national sports venues and a national arena.

Björnsdóttir said the city would continue looking for ways to improve efficiency and review procurement, its property portfolio and sickness absence. She also said she considered it appropriate for similar efficiency work to take place in the city’s B-part companies.