Reykjavík to review staff feedback on service centre changes

Reykjavík Mayor Hildur Björnsdóttir says the city will review feedback from employees following meetings about planned changes at the city’s four service centres, Morgunblaðið reports.

Directors of the city’s welfare department and its education and leisure department, along with leaders of the governing parties on the city council, held meetings with staff at all four centres on Wednesday.

The meetings followed cost-cutting measures approved by the city council’s executive committee on Tuesday. The measures include changes to services at the centres and a reduction of 54 city jobs, primarily among managers and middle managers. The city estimates the measures will save around 900 million Icelandic krónur a year while preserving services provided by the welfare, education and leisure departments.

“We thought it was right to offer staff a conversation immediately after these changes were announced,” Björnsdóttir told Morgunblaðið.

The meetings were well attended, and employees raised numerous comments and suggestions. Björnsdóttir said the feedback was broadly similar across all four centres and had been recorded for review.

The city has allocated four months to implement the changes, which are not due to take full effect until the start of the new year. Björnsdóttir said the proposed organisational changes were not set in stone and could be adjusted to reflect the views of employees who know the work best.

She said the city intended to consider the suggestions carefully and respond to them where possible, adding that this would not necessarily prevent the city from meeting its spending reduction target.