E MPLOYMENT

Figure 3-5 Employment rate by gender

Source: Eurostat. The employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of employed persons aged 15 to 74 by the total popula-tion of the same age group and sex. Please note that the age group used for Iceland is 16 to 74.

In the EU, the average participation rate for women has continued to increase during the crisis. This increase was fuelled by countries with a very low employment rate among women in the mid-2000‟s (such as Malta with 29.4% in 2006) which experienced a considerable growth in women‟s employment rate.

As mentioned in Section 3.1, the recent crisis has largely affected young people. As illustrated in Figure 3-6, the employment rate for persons aged 16 to 24 in Iceland dropped 12.8 percentage points from 2007 to 2009 from 74.3% to 61.5%. Thus, the drop in the youth employment rate is much more pronounced in Iceland compared to the benchmark countries. Then again, the employ-ment rate for senior workers aged 65 to 74 has been almost unaffected by the crisis. In 2009, the employment rate for this group was 34.3% in Iceland compared to 34.7% in 2008. The average em-ployment rate for this group in EU27 was 7.7% in 2009.

Figure 3-6: Employment rate among 15-24 year old persons

Source: Eurostat. The employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of employed persons aged 15 to 24 by the total popula-tion of the same age group. Please note that the age group used for Iceland is 16 to 24.

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

2006 2007 2008 2009

%

Iceland (males) Iceland (females) EU27 (males) EU27 (females)

30 40 50 60 70 80

2006 2007 2008 2009

%

Iceland

Denmark

Malta

Sweden

European Union (27 countries)

Comparing the different regions of Iceland in terms of employment rate, Reykjavík has been the most affected by the crisis. From 2007 to 2009, there was a drop in the employment rate by 8.2 per-centage points in Reykjavík while the “other regions” experienced a less significant drop in the em-ployment rate with 5.2 percentage points.

Figure 3-7: Employment rate in Iceland by region

Source: Statistics Iceland. Capital region: Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Seltjarnarnes, Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Sveitarfélagið Álftanes, Mosfellsbær and Kjósahreppur. Reykjavík – Capital: - Reykjavík. Surrounding Reykjavik: Kópavogur, Seltjarnarnes, Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Sveitarfélagið Álftanes, Mosfellsbær and Kjósahreppur. Other regions: Southwest, West, Westfjords, Northwest, Northeast, East and South

This difference between regions can partly be explained by a significant loss of jobs in Reykjavík within the occupational groups of clerks, crafts and related trade workers as well as so-called ele-mentary occupations.

Table 3-2 below provides a detailed overview of the development in the number of employed per-sons by occupational groups for the whole country. With the exception of associate professionals³, all occupational groups have lost jobs from 2008 to 2009. However, if we look at the changes back to 2006, the table shows that significant job losses among clerks and workers in agriculture and fishery were already evident in 2007. Hence, job losses cannot be ascribed to the crisis alone, but also to some extent are signs of more profound changes in the business structure.

3 This occupational group according to ISCO 88 covers a diverse selection of non-academic occupations, including all types of tech-nicians (all sectors) as well as assistants and techtech-nicians in health, social services and education.

70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84

2006 2007 2008 2009

%

Surrounding Reykjavik Other regions

Capital region Reykjavík - Capital

Table 3-2: Index of employed persons by occupational groups

Occupational Groups 2006 2007 2008 2009

Legislators and managers 100,0 115,2 118,6 116,6

Professionals 100,0 104,7 119,9 117,2

Associate professionals 100,0 109,2 112,6 113,0

Clerks 100,0 95,2 84,1 73,8

Service and sales workers 100,0 108,9 105,4 97,0 Agricultural and fishery workers 100,0 87,8 81,7 80,5 Craft and related trades workers 100,0 95,9 99,5 86,0 Plant and machine operators 100,0 102,1 94,8 86,6

Elementary occupations 100,0 108,5 95,4 80,8

Total 100,0 104,6 105,3 98,9

Source: Statistics Iceland. (2006 =Index 100).

Employed. Persons are classified as working if they worked one hour or more in the reference week or were absent from the work they usually carry out. Individuals on birth leave are considered absent from work if they went on leave from a paid job, even if they have no intentions of returning to the same job.

Occupational groups. The respondent´s occupation or last occupation is classified according to the international job classification ISCO88, as adapted to Icelandic conditions.

The fact that the loss of jobs during the crisis mainly affected manual labour occupations can be seen in Figure 3-8, which shows the Icelandic employment rate by the highest level of education obtained. The patterns of change in the occupational structure that emerge from Figure 3-8 are in line with the long-term trend during the last two decades or so. However, the crisis exaggerates the decline in manual and low service jobs, and some of these jobs will most likely be regained once growth resumes.

Figure 3-8: Employment rate in Iceland by highest level of education attained

Source: Eurostat. The employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of employed persons aged 16 to 74 by the total popula-tion of the same age group. Chart shows data for Iceland only. ISCED levels of educapopula-tion.

From 2006 to 2009, the employment rate for persons with pre-primary, primary and lower second-ary education dropped 8 percentage points. At the other end of the educational spectrum, the em-ployment rate for persons with tertiary education as their highest level of education “only” dropped 3.6 percentage points in the same period. Comparing to the benchmark countries, the trend is more complex. In Denmark, Sweden and Malta as well as the EU27, persons with tertiary education ex-perience a significantly higher employment rate compared to persons with a lower educational

60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95

2006 2007 2008 2009

%

Tertiary education

Upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education

Pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education

background. However, the decreasing employment rates caused by the recent crisis are more equal-ly distributed among the three educational groups. For further details, please see the charts in Annex 2.

A final aspect of the employment situation in Iceland is the ratio between part-time and fulltime employed persons. As illustrated in Figure 3-9, a larger share of the total number of employed per-sons in Iceland was employed part-time in 2009 compared to 2006. This is also the case in the benchmark countries. However, the part-time employment ratio has increased more substantially in Iceland. A part of the explanation to this development is the introduction of part-time benefits (see Section 7.4, p. 91f. for further details).

The share of part-time employed women is three times higher than that of part-time employed men in Iceland. The crisis has cemented this gender difference. The largest increase in the part-time em-ployment ratio is among young people. Hence, in 2006 the part-time emem-ployment ratio for persons between 16 and 24 in Iceland was 30.5. In 2009, the ratio had increased to 48.7.

Figure 3-9: Part-time employment as a percentage of the total employment

Source: Eurostat. The part-time employment rate is calculated by dividing the number of part-time employed persons aged 15 to 74 by the total number of employed persons in the same age group. Please note that the age group used for Iceland is 16 to 74.