Strauss Water’s Tami4 is a household name in Israel, known as the leading water purification and dispensing system in the industry. What is less known is that Strauss Water’s customer service operations are housed in Bereishit’s work center in Ashdod, where some 100 haredi women are providing quality assurance to over 2 million clients.
The work center is the brainchild of visionary philanthropist and President of Achim Global Mr. Marc Schimmel and Chairman Rabbi Motti Eichler, who are also co-founders of Bereishit – an HR firm established in 2005 to encourage businesses to tap into the haredi human capital, for the mutual benefit of the haredi community and Israeli corporations.
To date Bereishit has successfully placed over 15,000 haredim in jobs in all industry sectors, from call centers to hi-tech. Recognizing the needs of women who want to work in a haredi, women-only environment, and who would otherwise not find employment, Bereishit was the first to establish haredi work centers throughout the country.
Evidently, the idea is working: on his recent visit to Bereishit Ashdod, CEO of Strauss Water Yaniv Shirazi commended the women on their professionalism and excellence, noting the company had surpassed its expectations in terms of customer satisfaction, proving that the integration of haredim is as beneficial for employers as it is for the employees.
Eichler, who introduced Shirazi, spoke about the invaluable work of the Strauss Group in integrating
haredi women into the workforce, as well as the importance of Hakarat HaTov to the man behind these initiatives, Marc Schimmel, who supported the establishment of Bereishit Ashdod 6 years ago.
“Marc recognized a need, and set out to create something that would meet that need, enabling haredi
women to support their families with dignity,” said Eichler.
Bereishit Ashdod offers a decent salary, a strictly haredi work environment that is attuned to employees’ cultural sensitivities, and a job that’s close to home, thus eliminating travel time and enabling mothers to give first priority to their families. In fact, adorning the walls at Bereishit is a Hebrew sign that translates, “Family takes center stage.” With childcare facilities on the premises, Bereishit practices what it preaches.
“We see this partnership as an obligation and a privilege, a way to combine social responsibility with
corporate excellence,” said Shirazi. “We are bridging between different sectors of Israeli society and at the same time we’re giving our clients outstanding customer service. It’s a win-win situation, on a
national scale.”
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One Response
It’s great if the women are being offered a decent wage (which in many places where all-chareidi-women workplaces have been established, is not the case). Be grateful ? Yes, but within reason. As the article states, it’s a win-win solution. It’s not like the company was doing us a favor. The CEO is a businessman and what interests him is the bottom line.