Making it clear: Israeli job data, now in English

A report based on voluminous statistics gleaned from employer interviews and culled into a detailed report by Israel’s Ministry of Economy under Knesset Member Naftali Bennett’s direction has just been translated and made available to the English speaking public.

From academics in computer science and accountants to welders and whitesmiths, 195 jobs are tallied and categorized into easily understood columns of number of job openings per region, employees per region, starting monthly salary and rank by demand.

The document was translated by Israel Empowered, an Internet outreach group, an organization whose stated goal is to “promote Jewish and Zionist values developing a sense of pride in one’s Jewish heritage and immigration to Israel.”

“The Ministry of the Economy had done this for years,” Baruch Gordon of Israel Empowered and a director of the Israel Defense Forces Preparatory Academy in Beit El told The Jewish Star. He founded the English Arutz Sheva in 1995.

“They culled this data constantly and never compiled it as a simple accessible report,” Gordon explained. “Bennett said, ‘This is huge! Why don’t we compile this?””

Gordon said that translating the information “took a lot of effort,” but the information is important.

“The key is that with the current economy in America, key players in the American economy, investors, those on Wall Street, they don’t see it getting better, they are not optimistic. It makes this all the more relevant — more will be thinking about Israel as a viable option in their lives.”

“Anyone remotely thinking about aliyah or expressing interest of aliyah” would be a candidate to peruse the information, Goldon stressed.

Some of the jobs most in demand include civil engineers, computer engineers and construction carpenters. Dry cleaners and dairy production workers are at the lowest end of the demand scale.

A misgiving voiced by some of those inquiring about jobs involved Israeli salaries.

“In America,” emphasized Gordon, “the cost of living is insanely higher.”

The tuition for the most expensive university in Israel is equivalent to $3,500 a year, he said; child care is much more accessible and reasonable; socialized medicine is 20 to 30 times lower in medical care costs; education is free; rental apartments are inexpensive, and basic commodities — fruits, vegetables and bread — are “Tastier! Holier! Cheaper!”

“With thousands of job openings, a prudent observer choosing an education, will study the report before choosing what field to major in,” concluded Gordon.

For more information and to access the report, go to youtu.be/3D_EhRIUPJ4 or email aliza@israelempowered.com.