Juniors struggling to find tech jobs in Israel

The ordeal of youth in Israel – inexperienced employees who struggle to obtain a foothold in the technology industry – are getting worse. The average search time for beginners (less than two years of experience) has increased to 11 months compared to 14 weeks in the industry as a whole, while the number of new open jobs for job seekers for the first time decreased every month. From average 300 to number one. This is according to a report issued by Ethosia – one of the largest employment companies in the technology industry in Israel.

Lack of opportunities provided by employers is part of a worrying global trend, as evidenced by the new data issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF). According to the World Economic Forum, although the technology industry is supposed to grow by 14% by 2030 – a rate equivalent to 170 million new jobs – Assad’s share will focus on advanced areas. The huge data, artificial intelligence analysts and financial technology engineers are at the top of the required professions list, while about 8% of the current jobs, especially beginners jobs, are expected to disappear, due to automation and advanced technologies.

The ethosia report also reveals that 85% of companies are planning to invest in training their current employees, and that 50% of them are considering transferring employees from job roles to technological growth roles. The importance here is two parts: not only to reduce the number of beginners positions, but the new positions that are opened are also filled with veteran employees who are under re -training. At the same time, according to the report, 41% of companies around the world are planning to reduce their operating power by 2030, due to the development of artificial intelligence.

Moreover, the war also forced the technology industry, such as the rest of the economy, to become more efficient and “meager” and tolerate less risk, and convert focus, among other things, into a smaller and more experienced workforce. In other words, if the employees are already appointed, priority will be given to experienced candidates who do not constitute a “gambling”.

There is also a slowdown in the growth of the workforce in the Israeli technology industry in Israel. At the end of 2024, the technology industry had 417 thousand employees, an increase of less than 1% compared to 2023, compared to an average growth of 4% in previous years, according to the Ehsia report. Foreign investments also decreased by 60% last year compared to 2023, which led to the closure of many startups and a significant decrease in the collected funds.

Meanwhile, the average salary in the technology industry in Israel is high. Between October 2023 and October 2024, the average monthly salary increased by 4.7% to 30,915 shekels.

“A generation between two chairs”

University graduates talk about their suffering on social media. Y., Computer Science Graduate from Ben Gurion University, the settlement that she had to accept in the Facebook group shared for the candidates who just started: “After two years of searching for work and experience in personal projects, I decided to go to the position that was not pure development, there is a touch of instructions The software, it is a high -tech company, and I work within a team under the supervision of the developers – but this is not exactly what I dreamed of. Hope is progress from the inside and gain experience, even if it is partially try to look at it as an opportunity to get to know the industry from a different angle.

A, who holds a Bachelor’s degree. “When the interview started, they knew in the company that I was about to finish my studies. I passed the second stage, then the person in charge of the interview told me:” But you still have two semesters to go. I said, “This is true.” They said: “We are sorry.” They wanted a person with at least 18 months experience, “A” shares his frustration. It is a paradox – how can you gain experience when no one wants to give you the first opportunity? “

“I feel as if we are a whole generation located between two chairs,” says one of the new graduates from the Hebrew University. “I have a computer science certificate, good degrees, and projects on GitHub – however I find myself competing for one job with 200 other candidates who are similar to me completely.”

Another student describes the depth of the crisis, although he is studying in the institution that offers the largest number of graduates in the market – the open university. “In the past six months, I sent a CV to 300 students and a novice position. I only received a response from one place, as I passed three stages of interviews and in the end they might have chosen another person.” He describes himself as experience in personal projects with a variety of modern programming languages. “Many of my friends choose to continue studying for a master’s degree, not a matter of attention but because it is better than sitting at home without a job.”

According to the data of the Ministry of Labor, the College of Computer Science at the Open University is the largest in the country, as it includes a third of students in the institution, and its graduates lead the ability to earn with a large gap of 5,000 shekels per month more of the Technion graduates and more than 7,000 shekels from the Hebrew University. For reference, the gap in the previous report was only 500 shekels.

“To exploit time”

“The most difficult situation today is actually for computer science graduates, more than for me and my colleagues graduates of electrical engineering,” says the graduate of the Technion. “There is a great noise about the world of artificial intelligence and processors, which makes the demand for electrical engineers more compared to software engineers. Companies like NVIDIA raises the market in the areas of devices.”

“The industry is experiencing a fundamental shift. If obtaining a certificate in computer science in the past is a guaranteed entry ticket to advanced technology, we see today that the focus turns into specific areas such as quantity students need students Those who think about computing and artificial intelligence to adapt to these requirements. “

Suleiman also talks about many graduates to continue their academic life. He says: “There are students today who choose to obtain a master’s degree that is not necessarily a matter of pure academic desire, but as a strategic decision.” He explains that “instead of facing a difficult job market at the age of 26, they prefer to invest two years in study and enter the market at the age of 28, but with a great advantage. Moreover, if they do not find a job anyway – it is better to benefit from the time that It spends it in the study when the market is not rewarding as expected and the offers received are not really advanced, a master’s degree in a required field such as artificial intelligence or electrical engineering.

Despite the complex image, industry experts also determine the bright points. Solomon concludes his speech by saying, “I am optimistic about the future.” “Once the geopolitical and economic situation settles, we are expected to witness a significant decrease in working hours. The Israeli industry is known for its flexibility and its ability to recover. The question is not whether the situation will improve, but when.”

Posted by Globes, ISrael Business News – en.globes.co.il – on January 21, 2025.

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