Three to four hundred former WOW air staff are still unemployed over six months after the airline declared bankruptcy, according to the Directorate of Labour. The company’s employees, numbering around 1,100, all lost their jobs when the airline went bankrupt in March this year. Unemployment numbers are higher than the directorate had predicted.
“They’ve been decreasing slowly and steadily but maybe not as quickly as we hoped,” stated Unnur Sverrisdóttir, the director of the organisation, in an interview with RÚV. “There are still about three to four hundred left and the biggest group are flight attendants.”
Unnur says WOW’s former staff that remains unemployed is generally well educated. If plans to found two new airlines prove successful, that could provide needed jobs. Many pilots who were employed by WOW have, however, already found work abroad.
Unemployment rates are higher this year than projected. An unemployment rate of 4% is expected in December, though it is projected to lower in March of next year. The number is uncharacteristically high for Iceland, and Unnur says she hopes to see improvements next spring.
