{"id":13105,"date":"2024-09-22T15:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/?post_type=report&p=13105"},"modified":"2024-09-30T16:41:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:41:55","slug":"high-tech-employment-data","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/report\/high-tech-employment-data\/","title":{"rendered":"High-Tech Employment Data"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of the Israeli economy, high-tech’s significant contribution to the economy depends on employment in the sector. The changes related to this metric are therefore fundamental for the future of the economy. Between 2012-2022, high-tech doubled in size in terms of employees whose numbers reached approximately 400,000. In other words, the long-term trend was one of growth in high-tech employment. Since 2022, however, there has been almost no change in the number of high-tech employees.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The stagnation in the number of high-tech employees over the past two and a half years has also led to a curbing in the growth of high-tech’s relative share of employment in Israel that has remained almost steady at 11% since the second half of 2021. <\/strong>This comes after a decade when high-tech’s relative share rose from less than 8% to over 11%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An examination of the rate of change in the number of high-tech employees from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the end of mid-2024<\/span> i.e., the period of the war, reveals that the number of high-tech employees increased by about 25,000, an increase of 3.8% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, examining the war’s influence on employment in the economy’s other sectors<\/strong> during this period reveals an increase of 1.1%. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that this increase comes after a significant decline in high-tech employment during the third quarter of 2023, so that over the past year, the number of high-tech employees has actually declined. The reasons for the decline in the third quarter of 2023 are being analyzed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It should be noted that, as of now, the data does not indicate a growth in employment in the defense technology companies in Israel, despite Israel’s increased defense and security needs during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A more in-depth examination of the composition of high-tech employees according to the different fields reveals that for nearly six consecutive quarters, there was a decline in the number of employees in product and administrative jobs in the high-tech sector.<\/strong> In other words, the field of employment continuing to demonstrate growth in high-tech is almost exclusively in R&D (research and development) jobs. This reality necessitates continued monitoring to clarify the reasons for the decline \u2013 a reduction in the number of jobs for cost reduction purposes, jobs leaving Israel, technological changes, or other reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consequently, in the first half of 2024, the ratio of R&D employees exceeded more than half the total number of high-tech employees<\/strong>. In other words, high-tech is increasingly focusing on development roles while the other jobs \u2013 some of which have lower entry barriers because they do not require technology training \u2013 are gradually declining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of available jobs in the high-tech sector is a metric that reflects the jobs opened and advertised by the companies and the demand for employees. When examining this metric today, it is obvious that a certain downturn occurred with the outbreak of the war and that the number of available jobs in high-tech declined, especially in hightech services (software). However, the first quarter of 2024 recorded a recovery and the number of available jobs in high-tech services companies increased once again to pre-war levels.<\/strong> The war did not therefore have an influence on available jobs except in the quarter in which it began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following a sharp increase in the number of available jobs in services companies that began in 2020 and reached its peak at the end of 2021, since the beginning of 2023, the number of available jobs has been cut by half and settled on 10,000-11,000 available jobs per quarter, similar to the figure that characterized the sector in 2018, as presented in the Innovation Authority’s annual report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite media reports of an increase in demands of defense technology companies, thus far, there has been no obvious change in the number of available jobs in the high-tech sector (including defense industry companies), and it appears less volatile and sensitive to market changes, and characterized by stagnation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n While the growth in high-tech employment has been curbed since 2022, salaries in the sector have continued to rise, even during the period of the war. During the second quarter of 2024, the average high-tech salary stood at 31,500 shekels. This, while the economy’s average salary stood at 11,300 shekels. Since the beginning of the war, high-tech salaries have increased by an average of 5.5% whereas salaries in the rest of the economy rose by only 2%. As a result, the gap between salaries in the high-tech sector and the rest of the economy continued to grow and the ratio between them stood at 2.8 times higher in the last quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, the rate of salary growth within the high-tech sector varied between different fields. While salaries in the high-tech industries subsector registered an increase of 11% in relation to salaries in the quarter preceding the war <\/strong>and reached 29,500 shekels, salaries in the high-tech services subsector i.e., software, increased by only 3.6% <\/strong>to 32,200 shekels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking forward at the high-tech companies’ expectations regarding salary increases in the sector, according to the CBS survey of business managers’ expectations conducted in July 2024<\/a>, 56% of the high-tech industries companies expect a salary increase in the coming year. This contrasts with 33% of the hightech services companies<\/strong>. The figure for the high-tech services companies is the lowest observed since the survey began in its current form in July 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another characteristic of salaries in the high-tech sector worthy of mention is its\u2019 seasonality. As can be seen in the diagram, in the first quarter of the year, high-tech salaries tend to increase markedly and decline again in the following quarters. This phenomenon can be explained primarily by the payment of yearly bonuses typical of the sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Employees: Stagnation in High-Tech Employment Over the Past Two Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Number of High-Tech Employees Has Grown Since the Beginning of the War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Growth in the High-Tech Sector Since October 7: Only in R&D Jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Demand for High-Tech Employees Has Been Almost Unaffected by the War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
High-tech Salaries Continue to Increase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n