On September 4^th 2007, Invest in Iceland Agency and the Trade Council of Iceland hosted a seminar in Reykjavik on the issues of foreign specialists in Iceland.

Earlier this summer Invest in Iceland Agency partnered with Capacent to conduct a focus group study on foreign specialists in Iceland.  The goal was to monitor the whole experience of working in Iceland. The report revealed some interesting results that give a general indication and can be used as guidance both for the government and businesses.

At the seminar representatives from Capacent, Directory of Immigration, CCP, Iceland Telecom and Reykjavík University discussed the landscape facing highly educated foreigners that want to come to Iceland to work. The speakers pointed out the increasing dialog on attracting outside talent into the economy and the dire need for improvements on the overall process of getting them into the country. These voices have reached the ears of the government and steps are now being taken to remedy.  

In recent years Iceland has experienced increased growth in the stream of immigrants into the country and the number of residence permits issued has doubled in the past five years reaching a peak in 2006. In January 2007 foreign labor represented roughly 8% of the total workforce in Iceland.