Industrial plants in Israel are in trouble: They are short of 13,700 workers

Industrial plants in Israel are in trouble. They are short of workers and have great difficulty recruiting skilled workers. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel's industry lacks 13,700 workers.
The problem of shortage of workers in the industry is not new but increased during the Corona. Before the crisis, there was a shortage of 10,000 workers, which increased to almost 14,000. Many of the positions in the industry, at least a quarter of the missing workers, are positions on production lines, near furnaces or in the field of concrete castings. In these positions it is very difficult to find employees and it is very difficult to retain employees and therefore they have a very high turnover. However, in the industry there are also other positions like welders or CNC operators that require training, they lack skilled manpower and the salary in them is higher than average.
Due to the distress of employers, the Manufacturers' Association launched an advertising campaign this month calling on the public to return to the labor market, industry and high-tech. At the same time, in order to overcome the shortage of skilled workers, employers are interested in training workers during the work, and for this purpose a budget of NIS 5 million has been allocated, which is sufficient to train 400 workers. The program for training employees in industrial companies was made in collaboration with the Employment Service and the Manufacturers' Association and it makes it possible to learn a profession during the work at no cost to the employee. The training is provided at the expense of the employer with the support of the state and the goal is to enable the unemployed to acquire a new profession in which the wage is not a high-tech wage, but it is higher than average.
"Today there are about 31,000 vacant and equal jobs in the economy and in high-tech, and at the same time there are many unemployed people who prefer to stay at home and receive unemployment benefits instead of going out and working. The average wage offered in Israeli industry is significantly higher than the average wage in the economy. We are raising wages and there are still no workers. That is why I call on the Israeli government and the Ministry of Finance to encourage the return of workers to full employment, along with the creation of workers' training programs. In addition, the financing of the disease, which has very quickly become a "disease" for those who choose not to work, must be stopped very quickly under the auspices of the state. This is the only way to return the economy to growth, "says Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers' Association and chairman of the presidency of employers and businesses.