The head of Israel’s Manufacturers Association Shraga Brosh releases a bleak forecast for the Israeli workforce. He explained that the layoffs recently reported at Intel are just the beginning and a major wave of layoffs should be expected elsewhere too. He predicts the industrial sector will be the next to feel the economic blow in his address at an economic conference. He reported that since the beginning of 2015, 2,225 industrial sector workers have lost their jobs, amounting to 0.5% of the national labor force. This breaks down to 1,205 jobs in high-tech, 865 jobs in the electronic communications equipment and the remainder divided between machinery & equipment and electrical equipment.
He lamented that while the country should produce 150,000 new jobs annually, the reality is one of decreased local production and increased exports, questioning where workers will find jobs. He feels too many have been absorbed into the public sector, which he feels is already too large and likely to collapse in the not-so-distance future.
He calls on the relevant ministries including the Economy Ministry, to spend the necessary funds to boost the economy and encourage the hiring of additional workers to increase production locally.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
I thought BIBI is always touting everyone to make aliyah since the economy is s good, I guess more Zionist lies.
I really hope this is fixed soon. Israel does not need to be the 51rst State
I hope I’m mistaking but if this is the same thing that happened in California, this is not good
No great secret here. The overly strong Shekel is harming Israeli exporters. Mr. Brosh represents the manufacturing sector which in Israel is heavily weighted towards exports. He is doing what everyone in his position does which is to apply pressure on the government and on the Bank of Israel to intervene to weaken the Shekel. The issue is proving harder for Israel to manage than it has in the past as several real factors are pushing the Shekel up (‘quantitative easing’ in the US and the EU among them) and speculators in the Shekel have become increasingly sophisticated and more difficult to reign in.