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On paper, Israel is doing very well. With some 6,000 start-ups – the highest number per capita in the world, according to Start-Up Nation Central – the Israeli technology scene produces world-renowned innovation and rescue tools.
Under the surface, Israeli high-tech companies with a serious shortage of at least 10,000 software engineers and programmers over the next decade, with companies already moving abroad in because of the shortage.
This estimate comes from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), the branch of government. on the best face of the country to attract talent and encourage local R & D. In other words, when the man who sells you a product starts to list his mistakes, you are in trouble.
The authority now sounds the alarm about the hurdles faced by Israeli start-ups, established companies and multinational high-tech companies.
"The scarcity increases when one climbs the pyramid; there are really few high-end engineers available who make algorithms," said Uri Gabai, Director of Strategy for IIA, The Jerusalem Post . "It's also a problem for software developers and middle-level coders."
At the same time, a relatively strong shekel makes the local boot much more expensive for local start-ups and established multinational technology companies, Israeli employees are paid in shekels but services are sold in dollars and euros.
All of this contributes to sharply higher wages for high-tech employees, wages and salaries. Israeli engineers' means increasing by 38% over the past decade, according to the authority
The sharp rise in wages makes it difficult for Israeli start-ups to e compete with multinationals in the payment of engineers. Companies such as Wix.com, a multibillion-dollar Israeli web development platform, are developing dramatically in countries like Lithuania, as Israel faces a shortage of web developers, and the lack of Web developers. ;East. European computer programmers can be paid much less than their Israeli counterparts.
This reporter visited Wix offices in Vilnius, the capital, last year, and discussed with Wix executives the reason why the future expansion of Israeli technologies is more likely.
It boils down to this: without more highly skilled employees Israel will not be able to maintain its competitive edge. This forces politicians from all parties to come up with new solutions
Education Minister Naftali Bennett – who normally wrestles with Arab politicians – has made plans to bring more Israeli Arabs into high technology. 20% of the population but only about 1% of employees in the industry, and Bennett has obtained a sharp increase in funding for computer programming in Arab schools as a way to develop and strengthen the Israeli economy .
the number of high-tech employees overall, encourage investment and reduce brain drain – or stop the departure of the legions of highly educated Israelis for better economic opportunities in the Silicon Valley and elsewhere – unorthodox proposals abound.
A plan – historically anathema to the Jewish state – is to speed up the processing of work visas for highly educated non-Jewish internationals.
In early February, the population and the Office of Immigration announced that start-ups and high-tech companies would be able to hire non-Israelis as "experts For a year as part of a special 12 month pilot program.
-tech or visas for engineering work in Israel. According to the financial newspaper Calcalist, about 3,000 people worked in Israel in 2015, but the "expert" plan was blocked and immigration lawyers contacted by the post blamed the Interior Ministry for do not hire enough staff.
"It's not good enough to declare that we opened the sky for high-tech professional workers [realm]," said Zari Hazan's attorney at Post ]. "We have not seen any increase, nothing yet, we are waiting for two or three months, and all requests are stuck in Jerusalem."
Hazan added, "They need [increase] the amount of people approving visas.There is only one manager to handle all requests to the Ministry of the Interior. "
Persistent demographic concerns may to be erasing the plan, because not all coalition parties are fully aboard.
And not enough high-tech candidates see Israel as a viable country It is possible to move, some potential employees with misconceptions about the security situation and perhaps receiving wages lower than those of Silicon Valley or other Western technology centers.
The Israeli hi-tech ecosystem is trying to entice foreigners to work in Tel Aviv with generous relocation packages. Eran Shir, CEO and co-founder of Nexar, a start-up specializing in Dash-Cam mobility, heads a consortium called BETA (Be In Tel Aviv), where Israeli companies are cooperating to recruit high-tech foreign workers.
million. Shir told Post .
"As far as bureaucracy is concerned, the jury is still in the hot seat" Shir said. "I'm always optimistic, that's why I'm an entrepreneur.But what I meet is a lot of goodwill from different branches of government, from different interests, from different organizations. . "
Yet, Israel is struggling to recruit talents comparable to those of Silicon Valley, as shown in a paper Financial Times .
An entrepreneur, Liad Agmon – whose technology company provides services to half a billion Customers of global retailers, including Under Armor, are wondering if his next start-up will be abroad.
"There is no limit here [in Israel]," Agmon told the Financial Times . "If I start my company, say, in Portugal, I can get extremely talented engineers for a third of the price.From an economic point of view, there is no benefit to being in Israel."
The high-tech industry currently accounts for one twelfth of the Israeli workforce, just over 8% of all workers. Average monthly wages rise to about 21,000 NIS ($ 5,940), while average monthly Israeli wages are NIS 9,800 ($ 2,770).
The percentage of its gross domestic product that Israel invests in research and development is higher than that of any other country, and its venture capital investment represents the highest share of GDP per capita in the world. world, all this will stop abruptly if the shortage of workers worsens – as every year.
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