[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:
Are all the engineers graduating today from Israeli institutions finding
employment today in Israel?
How attractive are the entry level salaries for engineers and what kind of
working conditions do they face (long hours, etc.)?

So here is the question about implementing "Dispensations in bureaucracy for
obtaining work visas for expert workers in the field of hi-tech" -

Are these "expert workers" people with skill sets not available from Israeli
engineering graduates seeking employment or is this an instance that cheap
foreign workers are going to be brought in to suppress wages (that
discourage Israelis to study engineering in the first place) and take the
places of Israelis seeking employment?
I will make this even harder: what if everyone in the private sector wants
to only hire people with 3 years experience? If they can bring in foreign
workers they have no reason to "bite the bullet" and hire some engineers out
of school and give them the chance to gain experience.]
===============
Cabinet Authorizes Proposal for Law Seeking to Solve Shortage of Personnel
in Hi-Tech Industry
Proposal authorized further to the report by the committee headed by Michal
Tzuk, Senior Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Economy

Jerusalem, June 29, 2015 – Yesterday the Cabinet authorized a proposal for
law that seeks to “nurture the greatest possible utilization of human
resources”, with the goal of improving the ability of all Israeli citizens
to face the challenges of the changing world of employment,” following the
findings of the inter-ministerial steering committee headed by Senior Deputy
Director General Michal Tzuk regarding the hi-tech industry’s manpower
shortage. In August 2014, the committee submitted its conclusions regarding
dealing with the lack of skilled manpower for the hi-tech industry, which
suffers from a serious shortage of high-quality academic graduates in
engineering, computers, and science.

The main proposal recommendations:

The Ministries of Economy and Finance will be required to establish a
professional staff, with the participation of the relevant government
parties, to act to implement programs and activities with the goal of
increasing the numbers of skilled manpower needed by the hi-tech industry.

The Ministry of Education will be required to create an operative program to
increase the number of students completing their studies with a
matriculation certificate that enables them to join the hi-tech industry,
while making the most of the existing human resource potential in groups
that are poorly represented relative to their rate in the population: women,
minorities, and the ultra-Orthodox.


Minister of the Economy, Aryeh Deri: “Israel’s hi-tech industry is suffering
from a shortage of the skilled manpower needed to take their place in
technological professions in the industry. This shortage presents a great
challenge for employment, and the narrowing of economic and social gaps in
Israeli society. While the companies have difficulty in finding proficient
and skilled employees, tens of thousands of unemployed people and hundreds
of thousands of workers lack the tools that would allow them to join the
hi-tech industry. We need to encourage young people to study scientific
subjects and specialize in technological fields, and to include more target
populations from among the Arabs and ultra-Orthodox in advanced industry.”

Michal Tzuk, Director of Employment Regulation and Senior Deputy Director
General at the Ministry of Economy, noted that: “The hi-tech industry in
particular, and the information-rich industry in general, is a primary
growth engine for the Israeli economy. However, the shortage of available
and skilled manpower is an obstacle in the development of the hi-tech
industry. Having skilled and high-quality manpower, available and accessible
for employment, is a primary condition for continuing to strengthen and
develop the industry. We will work to realize and implement the
recommendations as quickly as possible, so as to provide solutions for the
increasing needs of the economy and industry in Israel.”

Amit Lang, Director General of the Ministry of Economy: “Every day we
witness the effects of the shortage of professional manpower on the Israeli
economy in general, and on its hi-tech industry in particular. The
difficulty experienced by the technology companies in finding expert
employees in science, engineering, and computers, has a direct effect on the
economy’s ability to export goods and services in the technological
industries. Therefore, we attribute great importance to strengthening
professional and academic training in fields which enable their graduates to
acquire a profession for life, while also providing solutions to the needs
of industry and the economy.”

The committee discovered that while some 7,000 new positions are added
annually in the hi-tech industry, the education system produces around only
6,600 graduates each year with the potential to study engineering and
sciences, with a large percentage going on to study other fields. In light
of the importance of the issue to Israeli finances, the labor market,
industry, and the economy, a committee deliberated over the last year to
formulate a range of tools which would provide solutions to the stagnation
in the number of students in the innovative industries, and bring about an
increase in the supply of candidates to be employed in the many positions –
most carrying high salaries – offered to high-quality graduates.

Representatives of many bodies participated in the inter-ministerial
committee, including: The Office of the Director of Employment in the
Ministry of Economy, the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of
Economy, the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, the
Budget Department in the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, the
Planning and Budgeting Committee at the Council for Higher Education in
Israel, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, the Fund and Unit for
Guidance for Ex-Servicemen in the Ministry of Defense, the IDF, the Israeli
Employment Service, the National Cyber Bureau, and various representatives
in the fields of industry, employment, and development of human resources.

Main details of the proposal for law
· The Minister of the Economy will set up a consulting forum within 90
days, which will include employers and additional relevant parties in
industry, who will advance a multi-system solution for the existing and
future shortage in skilled manpower in the economy.
· The Senior Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Economy, the
Director of Employment Regulation, and the Chief Scientist at the Ministry
of Economy, will head a professional staff, with the participation of
representatives from the Ministry of Finance, The Planning and Budgeting
Committee, The Council for Higher Education, and the National Economic
Council, to act to implement programs and activities with the goal of
increasing the numbers of skilled manpower needed by the hi-tech industry.
· A staff will be established to deal with the issue of recognition
for the various courses in the IDF, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of
Education, and academia, etc. in a manner that will allow students and
employees to move and advance between the sectors
· The Minister of Education will present a program for advancing
21st-century skills; to advance the implementation of courses of action
within 3 months, using project outlines for increasing the skilled workforce
for the Israeli hi-tech industry.
· The Minister of Education will formulate a program for increasing
the number of adults with a “high quality” matriculation certificate that
enables them to take their part in the technological battlefront of the
Israeli economy.
· The Minister of Education, the National Economic Council, the
Minster for Senior Citizens, and the Minister of Finance, to formulate a
national program within 45 days, to include the Arab population in the
Israeli economy, and improve their academic achievements.

Main Committee Recommendations

The committee recommends a variety of actions, divided into different
periods of time and relevant to a range of target populations, who serve as
a potential target in the field of human resources.

In the short term, the committee recommends steps including:
· Creating a program for refreshing veteran engineers (45+)
· Including academics with engineering and science degrees who are not
currently employed in the field, from the Arab sector
· Encouraging the return of graduates of Israeli educational
institutions from overseas, in partnership with the employers
· Dispensations in bureaucracy for obtaining work visas for expert
workers in the field of hi-tech

In the medium term, the following is recommended:
· Broadening the programs which increase accessibility to higher
education in the fields of engineering and science for populations which do
not currently meet conditions of acceptance to engineering subjects in
academia
· Creating various programs for integration of target populations in
academic studies in the relevant fields, including Arabs, the
ultra-Orthodox, and women serving in technological units
· Continuing to encourage the institutions of higher education to
increase the number of students in computers and engineering

In the long term, the committee recommends:
· A range of tools to encourage scientific excellence (in the formal/
informal education system)
· Increasing the exposure of children and young people from all
population groups to the field of sciences

Institutionalizing a steering committee for advancement, as well as
follow-up for implementation and integration of the recommendations, which
will coordinate all the solutions for the issue; as well as an employers’
forum, with which the steering committee will hold regular consultations and
create with it cooperative efforts, joint initiatives, and work interfaces.