March Unemployment Highest In 9 Years; 600 Applications For Two Positions At Pizza Place

A new pizza place due to open in Kópavogur around the beginning of May, Spaðinn, has received over 600 applications for just two positions with the company, MBL reports. Which stands to reason, as unemployment for the month of March has not been as high as it is now since 2011.

Spaðinn’s distinguishing characteristic is that the entire sales process is in electronic form; they do not accept cash as payment. They will have self-service order stations at the location, where customers can place orders and then pick their pizzas up themselves, as home delivery is not part of their plans.

That so many people should apply for just two positions is unsurprising, given the latest unemployment figures. According to data from the Directorate of Labour, there were a total of 14,221 Icelanders registered as unemployed for the month of March.

The last time unemployment figures for a single month were this high was in March 2011, when a total of 14,865 people were registered. Most of those currently unemployed are men in their late 20s to early 30s, and the greatest number of unemployed live in the greater Reykjavík area.