VR, Iceland's largest trade union, has named Syndis Company of the Year 2026 (Fyrirtæki ársins) and has awarded the company the VR Education Award (Fræðsluviðurkenning VR) in the medium company category.
Both awards are decided by employees, not by application or jury. Each year VR surveys workers across the Icelandic labour market and asks them to rate their own employer on nine key factors that together describe the internal work environment: management, compensation, workplace culture, equality, job satisfaction, learning, and more. Companies do not submit anything. The results are built entirely from what their own people report.
Company of the Year, medium category
The Company of the Year title is awarded to the top three firms in each of three size categories. Syndis received the recognition in the medium company category alongside Hringdu and Orkan.
The VR Education Award
The VR Education Award is given to a single company in each size category. It is based specifically on how employees rate their access to continuing education and their ability to develop in their work. VR ties this recognition to its long-running goal of supporting lifelong learning across the labour market, particularly as artificial intelligence and other technologies reshape the work ahead.
In the medium company category, Syndis is the sole recipient. APRÓ and Maven receive the same recognition in the large and small categories.
Why this matters in offensive security
The gap between attackers and defenders is closed by people who keep learning. New techniques, new tools, and new systems to defend appear constantly. The depth of a security team's knowledge, and the rate at which it grows, sets the ceiling on the value our clients receive.
Receiving the VR Education Award means our own team feels that ceiling is being raised, not held in place.
From our CEO
"The work we do does not forgive standing still. Attackers learn every day. Our clients are exposed if we do not learn faster. Today our team told us, through VR's survey, that the way we work makes that possible. We are grateful, and we have more to build."
Anton Már Egilsson, CEO, Syndis
Thank you
Thank you to every Syndis employee who took part in this year's survey, and to the team for building the workplace these awards reflect. Congratulations to our fellow recognised companies across all three size categories.