The Innovation Authority's Human Capital Report: A shortage of 18,500 high-tech workers

The Innovation Authority's Human Capital Report and Start-Up Nation Central show an alarming picture of the state of employment. The number of high-tech industry employees rose significantly in 2019 to 321,000 employees, accounting for 9.2% of all employees in the economy - up 8% from 2018. On the other hand, besides the large increase in the number of employees, the demand for workers is only rising, and as of July 2019, approximately 18,500 open technology jobs have been registered in the non-staffed industry and were not filled. 
Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Innovation Authority, said, "We have passed the 9% as a share of the population. 325,000 people working in high-tech is a very important figure for the economy in the economy. "The PA has a lot of activity to raise its personnel in high-tech, but like many things, the economy does not have a budget for new programs." The problem is that there is no budget for new programs starting this year. Three-year franchisees will be able to continue recruiting but no new activity. The lack of budget is very problematic and I believe that the high-tech will be hit very hard here. "
According to Aaron, one of the least positive points is the large number of employees moving between the various high-tech companies. "The instability is seen mainly in Israeli and start-up companies, where the situation is very problematic. In multinational companies, there is much more stability. They remain in the workplace. Another problem caused by the lack of budget is that it is difficult to develop companies with advanced technologies when the transitions are so frequent. "
A burning point that emerged regarding the employment of high-tech workers was the employment of women, ultra-Orthodox and Arabs. The situation in each of the sectors is different, but everyone still needs a lot of improvement. "You have to look at the flow of workers. When the industry is large and the entry is slow - the change process from year to year becomes slower," says Eugene Kendall. "The base of 300,000 employees is very large and therefore the entry of thousands of people does not affect the percentages." Kendall, who heads SNC, believes the direction of the three sectors is positive, though still far from the reality.
According to the report, the high-tech working population is largely homogeneous, with two-thirds of high-tech workers being male and an overwhelming majority of non-ultra-Orthodox Jews. The percentage of ultra-Orthodox and Arabs together is only 5% (is it true that both are combined) Arab population in high-tech: The rate of Arab employees rose by 23% between 2017 and 2018 and 116% in 2012-2018. A positive trend was also seen among Arab employees in the high-tech sector. Between 2017 and 2018, a significant increase was recorded with the entry of 1,700 And their rate has crossed the two percent threshold.
In contrast, among the ultra-Orthodox, the improvement is still far. The CEO of the Innovation Authority added that the high-tech ultra-Orthodox rate approached 3% in 2018, but many of them are not employed in development roles. ".
An examination of the integration of the ultra-Orthodox over the years in high-tech shows that there has been a small and creeping increase from 2014 to the present, at which time 2.1% and 2.8% in 2019 and a minority of them in development positions with significant income. "In the last year, 1,700 Arabs entered the industry and 900 ultra-Orthodox. The universities bring in 6,000 people a year. The ultra-Orthodox seminars spend between 800 and 1,000 people. "Girls who leave the seminary will earn more than NIS 10,000, which is a starting key salary, but most of them earn far less. There is much to be done in the ultra-Orthodox and Arab population, and there is all the potential.
Over the past year, many attempts have been made to increase the inclusion of women, which constitutes about 50% of the population. Although the discourse on the subject has improved significantly, the results in the field are very bleak. Despite the increase in the number of women in high-tech, the proportion, which in 2018 was about one-third of all high-tech employees, has not risen in recent years and is also in some decline. Of the total industry executives, only 18% are women, and in technology positions 22%, with a third being attributed to the integration of women in marketing and administrative positions.
Seven out of 10 high-tech employees, according to the survey, are technology workers. The increase in the weight of technological workers in recent years has been particularly evident in multinational companies. 40% of the high-tech technology jobs open in July 2019 in the high-tech industry were in the software professions. Cyber ​​and Algorithms / Data Scientist professions led in the percentage of open positions relative to existing employees in the profession (33% and 15% accordingly), an indication of high demand for these professions.
High-tech wages in 2018 averaged NIS 22,479 per month, with the average salary in the rest of the economy, after deduction of high-tech, NIS 9,345. Employee payroll expenses in multinational companies' R&D centers, whose number has increased by 143% over the last decade, are about 40% higher than domestic companies.