Demand for software developers has been cut by 37% within 6 months

The demand for software developers has been cut by 37% within six months, according to the vacancy survey published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The survey shows a continued downward trend in the overall scope of demand for workers in Israel, possibly due to preparations for an economic slowdown.
The number of vacancies in Israel in October 2022 reached 147 thousand jobs - a decrease compared to 151 thousand vacancies in September. The rate of vacancies out of all jobs in the economy reached 4.7% in October, compared to 4.8% in September - and after a record of 5% in February this year.
In the last six months, there has been a decrease in demand for jobs mainly in the fields of engineering and high-tech. The average number of engineer jobs (computer, electrical, industrial and management and mechanical engineers) reached 19,000 in March-May, but since then it has dropped by 30% to 13,000 jobs. Out of these jobs, the demand for software engineers also dropped by an even higher rate of 37% - and the total number of vacant jobs in the field is currently 8,730.
The decrease in the number of jobs in a half-yearly comparison reached additional areas: a 2% decrease in demand for sales workers, a 15% decrease in demand for waiters and bartenders, and a 14% decrease in demand for engineers and technicians. On the other hand, there was a 17% jump in demand for clerks, a 35% increase in demand for drivers and a similar increase in demand for builders.
The vacancy survey may be used by the Bank of Israel's monetary committee in its decision tomorrow regarding the level of interest in the economy. A downward trend in the demand for workers may signal a slowdown in activity in the economy and support the decision to moderate the rate of interest rate increases.

The celebration of the high-tech workers is over or it is simply less festive. We presented it already here and also here when we had already reached the layoffs of thousands.
The volume of layoffs continued to grow in recent months. Companies continued to use the card of laying off workers as the first way to deal with the economic crisis, even the tech giants Apple and Meta (Facebook) laid off workers, Intel laid off workers, the major Israeli companies Wix laid off and on the way to lay off many more, Playtica, Iron Source, Tabula, Outbrain, Riskypaid, Pioneer, Veronis, Lemonade and dozens more. In total, many hundreds of companies laid off workers.
The aforementioned number of those laid off is around 10,000 people, but there is a second circle. When workers are laid off, fewer services are needed - fewer restaurants that serve the workers, less welfare, fewer high-tech support workers. If the high-tech is weak, then the component trading companies will also sell less, graphic artists and designers and freelancers in general, will already demand less, etc.
The Israeli tech companies that have been issued and those that have not been resolved are also being processed in order to survive the crisis without too deep scars. The last few months and the last year have not been easy at all for the Israeli start-up companies, companies that are used to quickly and easily raising millions of dollars for a good speech and a nice presentation without any evidence on the ground, are now encountering the barriers set up by the funds that have already closed the cash tap, companies are finding it difficult to raise funding on the terms they wanted, and are choosing by way of cutting their employee positions.
Venture capital funds, and investors have become more hesitant in the past year. There are still companies that raised according to a dream value in 2021 and they still have money left in the bank, but it is running out. Companies that have lost the trust of their investors will have to raise new money in the coming period, the raising will be at a much lower value, than the value they raised last time, they will have to raise because they simply ran out of money even if it is of a low value. If they fail to recruit, the solution will be easy - you were right, they will fire more workers. Start-up companies such as Tabula or Wix, which are considered to be companies that have seen mountains and hills in the markets, are laying off employees, this probably means that the market is weakening, and the wave of layoffs has not yet stopped.
As mentioned, it is not only small companies that lay off, but also large companies in the global market that choose this way. The high-tech market realized that the mountain of cash on which it rests is not as stable as it thought. It is important to note that these are the reported numbers - there are companies that lay off and tell, but there are also many that lay off quietly and you don't hear about it, there are also those that report layoffs, tend to report a number that is lower than the actual situation.
There is no doubt that the Israeli hi-tech industry has experienced years of impressive growth and contributed greatly to itself and the Israeli national product. The engine of the industry, like any industry, is the workers. Those who benefited greatly from the growth, and were awarded a pampering salary and conditions with benefits and options that could be worth quite a bit when the company issues or makes an exit. It was a booming market, with a lot of money coming from Wall Street IPOs and private placements, and as a result the worker was king.
The decline - in the last year the situation has changed, although there is still a great demand for high-tech workers. It's not like three months ago or more. But good high-tech workers are still in demand. But not as before and there is already the beginning of a wave of layoffs that is increasing. Cyber ​​company Varonis recently laid off 110 employees - 5% of its workforce.
The cyber company Cyberizen laid off over 200 people - about 15% of the company's workforce.
Cyber ​​Sync fired 200 employees - about 15% of the company's workforce.
Kornit fired about 100 workers and is about to fire another round
The Israeli website construction company WIX, whose CFO of the company made sure to point out that layoffs will not be taken into account despite the weak results presented by the company, the company announced the layoffs of about 100 of the company's employees.
The Tabula company, which became public through a SPAC merger at a value of 2.6 billion dollars and deals in the management of advertising services, also announced the layoffs of about 100 company employees.
The Israeli company Faber, which serves as an online global trading arena, which mediates the provision of services, recently announced the layoffs of about 30 of its employees employed in Israel. Close to Faber's announcement, Outbrain, which deals in the field of content-integrated advertising, and was issued a year ago, announced the layoffs of 40 company employees.
 Verbit, which at the beginning of the year raised 250 million dollars based on a valuation of 2 billion dollars and a year and a half before that raised another 160 million dollars, and even managed to purchase a British company only seven months ago, sent home about 60 employees, which are about 10% of its employees .
 Bizzabo laid off about 120 employees, which is 30% of the company's employees, let's recall that the company made three acquisitions last year, within only five months. The company apparently rioted and now its employees are paying the price. Transmit Security (Transmit) laid off 30 employees.
Orcam, which deals in wearable computing products and is owned by Prof. Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, which wanted to issue a $2.5 billion IPO, has fired 20% of its employees, claiming that the company is reorganizing because of the macroeconomic environment.
Habana Labs - three years after it was acquired by Intel, which develops chips for data centers used for artificial intelligence processes and supercomputer applications, and has been used since its acquisition by Intel as the chip development division for the field of artificial intelligence at Intel, has laid off 10% of its employees.
Kaltora - the Israeli software company that provides a platform for video experiences in the cloud along with the company's quarterly results reports, the company announced the layoff of 10% of the company's manpower "in light of the current market environment and cost cutting".
The Israeli company Lightricks, which develops tools for the creation and editing of visual content, parted ways with about a tenth of its workforce, most of them from Israel, as part of an efficiency plan decided upon by the management - about 60 employees.
The Elementor company laid off between 50 and 60 employees out of the company's 400 employees. The company develops a platform for building open source websites.
On the face of it, it seems that the crisis is in full swing, and we have yet to see a bottom. The year 2023 is expected to be challenging, but we have to look in perspective - a salary of NIS 40-45 thousand for 25-year-old guys is excessive.