The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is causing problems all around the world— including the risk to Israeli high-tech firms, who rely on close to 20,000 Ukrainian employees.

The last few years have set new records for the Israeli high-tech industry.  According to Israel’s Ministry of Economics, high-tech exports of programming, cyber security, and OCCs (offensive cyber capabilities) soared in 2021. The greatest growth has been in the sale of Israeli start-ups, which grew by 257 percent from 2020. Programming services grew by 25 percent and R&D services by 15 percent.

Thus, the Israeli high-tech industry needs more workers, but the Israeli labor market alone cannot meet the demand. According to a survey conducted by the human resources company Ethosia in December 2021, there were 21,000 job openings in an industry that employs some 350,000 people.

One solution is hiring programmers from other countries, through local companies that provide the necessary technological infrastructure and contacts with Israeli firms. In the past, India was the main provider. Today, Eastern Europe — and especially Ukraine — has filled that gap. The current estimate is that over 15,000 Ukrainian programmers work directly with Israeli high-tech companies, along with several thousand more freelancers and people providing support services to the high-tech centers, where these workers are located.