Hiring for a restaurant in Iceland: the workforce in numbers, and hiring from abroad

Most restaurant owners in Iceland start to think about summer staff in the middle of winter. This guide shows who works in Icelandic food service today, from Hagstofa’s registers. It also shows the official route to hire someone from another EEA country, or from outside the EEA.

The figures and rules are as of October 2026. Hagstofa can revise the most recent months, and the permit rules and processing times change, so check the linked pages before you act.

Who works in Icelandic food service

Hagstofa counts people in employment each month from tax records, by the industry of their main job. Food service (NACE I56) covers restaurants, cafés, bars, canteens and catering. In July 2026, 9.381 people had their main job in food service. In the wider section of accommodation and food service, the number was 17.515.¹

Hagstofa also splits the count by origin, and one of the groups is immigrants. In July 2026, 53,7 % of the people in food service were immigrants. In July 2019 the share was 37,3 %.¹ For all jobs in Iceland, the share in July 2026 was 24,7 %.¹

Immigrants as a share of people employed in food service (I56), July of each year, 2019–2026

Show the data

Year	Immigrant share
2019	37,3 %
2020	34,8 %
2021	36,4 %
2022	40,8 %
2023	45,2 %
2024	48,9 %
2025	52,1 %
2026	53,7 %

The share has been above half in every month since March 2026.¹ Many kitchens and dining rooms work in two or three languages every day. Plan for that in training, in written routines and in the language of the menu that the staff use.

The summer swing is mostly in accommodation

Hagstofa’s figures show a smaller summer swing in restaurants than you might expect. Food service had 8.895 people in January 2026 and 9.381 in July 2026, a difference of 486.¹ In the whole section of accommodation and food service, the difference was 3.093, from 14.422 to 17.515.¹ These differences are our own calculation from the table. Most of the summer increase is in accommodation, not in food service.

The national count hides big local differences. A restaurant in the Westfjords or the East can have a much larger summer peak than a café in Reykjavík. Our guide to planning for the seasons shows the regional numbers for tourism.

How hard is it to hire now?

Hagstofa also estimates the number of vacant positions each quarter. The closest figure for restaurants is “tourism industries”. This group is wider than food service, because it also includes accommodation, transport and travel agencies. In the second quarter of each year, the vacancy rate in tourism industries was:²

Job vacancy rate in tourism industries, second quarter, 2019–2026

Show the data

Year	Vacancy rate
2019	2,6 %
2020	1,1 %
2021	13,6 %
2022	8,7 %
2023	2,6 %
2024	3,2 %
2025	3,4 %
2026	2,0 %

In the second quarter of 2026, Hagstofa estimated 640 vacant positions in tourism industries, a rate of 2,0 %.² That was the lowest second-quarter rate since 2020. The very high rates in 2021 and 2022 came in the years when tourism reopened after COVID. In 2026, finding staff is easier than in those years, but it still takes time before the summer.

Where immigrants live and work

Hagstofa also counts employed people by the region where they live. This table covers all sectors, not only restaurants. No Hagstofa table gives food service by region.

Immigrants as a share of employed residents, all sectors, by region of residence, July 2026

• under 16 %
• 16 %–20 %
• 20 %–25 %
• 25 % and over

Show the data

Region	Immigrant share
Capital area	23,0 %
Suðurnes	36,9 %
West	18,6 %
Westfjords	26,8 %
North-west	14,4 %
North-east	15,3 %
East	24,8 %
South	25,0 %

Suðurnes had the highest share in July 2026, 36,9 %, up from 28,2 % in July 2019. The share rose in every region over those seven years. The largest increases, of more than 8 percentage points, were in the East (from 15,6 % to 24,8 %), in Suðurnes and in the Westfjords (from 18,6 % to 26,8 %).³

Hiring someone from the EEA or EFTA

Citizens of EEA and EFTA countries have the right to live and work in Iceland. Þjóðskrá says that they can do so “with or without registering”.⁴ The rules for registration depend on how long the person stays:⁴

To register as an employee, the worker sends form A-271 with a passport or ID card. The worker also needs a confirmation from the employer on form A-272. The employment contract must normally be for at least 10 weeks.⁴ Þjóðskrá processes the registration in up to 10 working days after it has all the documents.⁴

For a summer hire, start this early. Send the A-272 confirmation as soon as the contract is signed, so that the worker has an ID number before the first payroll.

Hiring someone from outside the EEA

For most restaurant jobs, the relevant permit is the temporary work permit because of a labour shortage (tímabundið atvinnuleyfi vegna skorts á starfsfólki). Ísland.is says that this permit is granted only in exceptional cases.⁵ Read the official page and the law in full before you start. The main points are:

• Search in Iceland and the EEA first. The law says that the permit is possible when staff cannot be found in Iceland, the EEA, the EFTA countries or the Faroe Islands.⁶ The employer must first look for staff with the help of Vinnumálastofnun.⁶ Ísland.is recommends that the job advertisement stays open for at least three weeks.⁵
• Special reasons. The employer must give special reasons why it is necessary to hire from outside the EEA.⁵
• A signed contract on equal terms. There must be a signed, fixed-term employment contract. It must give the worker wages and other terms equal to local workers, under the law and the collective agreements.⁶ Útlendingastofnun may ask the relevant union for its opinion on the wages and terms.⁶
• The journey home. The employer guarantees the cost of the worker’s journey home in some cases, for example when the employment ends and it is not the worker’s fault. The contract must say to which country.⁶
• No temporary-work agencies. The law does not allow these permits for work through a temporary-work agency (starfsmannaleiga).⁶

The employer sends the application to Útlendingastofnun.⁵ The worker may not start work before the permit is granted.⁵ The permit is tied to work for one employer. The worker cannot move to another employer before a new permit is issued.⁶

Duration, renewal and fees

A first permit is for up to one year, and never longer than the employment contract. It can be renewed for up to two years at a time.⁶ Apply for the renewal four weeks before the permit runs out.⁵ To renew, the employer must have paid the withholding tax and the social security tax (tryggingagjald) for the worker’s job.⁶

The fee for an application for a residence permit for employment is 80.000 kr. A renewal is also 80.000 kr.⁸

On 10 September 2026, Útlendingastofnun was starting on employment-based applications that it received in June 2026. It says that first residence permits can take up to 8 to 10 months, and that most renewals are processed within three months.⁷ These times change every month, so check the live page when you plan.

A checklist for the summer season

1. Count your need. Use last summer’s sales by week to decide how many people you need and from which week.
2. Advertise early. Post the jobs in Iceland and the EEA in the winter. If you might need a permit later, keep a record of the search.
3. For EEA hires, sign the contract and send form A-272 as soon as you can, so that the ID number is ready for the first payroll.⁴
4. For non-EEA hires, read the conditions on Ísland.is, and allow for a processing time of many months.^{5 7}
5. Pay on equal terms. Use the collective agreement that applies to the job for every worker, whatever their background.⁶
6. Plan the first day. Prepare written routines, allergen information and the menu in the languages your team uses.
7. Set up the POS access. In Resto, each new person gets their own PIN and a role, and the order history shows the name of the person behind each action. You set this up in the back office.

If you have staff for the first time, also read the rules on rest periods and pay in the collective agreement before you publish the first rota.