More than 8000 tech sector employees have left Israel since October 2023
Official Israeli data revealed on Wednesday that 8,300 technology sector employees left Israel after the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
The Israel Innovation Authority, which is affiliated with the Israeli government said in a report that, “Between October 2023 and July 2024, approximately 8,300 high-tech workers left Israel for a year or more, representing approximately 2.1% of the sector’s workforce”.
The report shows that the number of high-tech workers has remained flat since 2022, and in 2024, their number will decline by about 5,000 workers, for the first time in at least a decade.
“The high-tech employment report underscores the need to continue focused investment in this sector, which is the primary driver of Israeli economic growth,” according to the Innovation Authority.
In light of the current security, political, and economic challenges, the data points to challenges that require immediate attention: stagnant employment, a shift in the job mix, and an increase in the volume of relocation.
According to the Israeli Innovation Authority, in order to ensure the future of the Israeli high-tech sector, the government and industry must work together – investing in human capital, improving skills, bringing back employees who left Israel, and expanding business activities here in Israel.
The number of workers in the high-tech sector in 2024 reached approximately 391,000, a decrease of 1.2%, or about 5,000 employees, compared to the previous year, as these figures is a clear indication of the decline in the growth trend that has characterized the Israeli high-tech industry over the past decade.
The report estimated that “from the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023 until July 2024, approximately 8,300 high-tech employees left Israel for a year or more”.
Meanwhile, political measures can and should be considered to return these employees to Israel, as the report shows that more than half of the workforce in Israeli high-tech companies is currently located outside Israel.
The Israeli high-tech companies currently employ approximately 440,000 people abroad, compared to approximately 400,000 people in Israel.
The report added, “Israeli high-tech companies’ operations in global markets require a robust presence in these markets”.
Numerous Israeli reports indicated that thousands of Israelis had left since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.
