JERUSALEM — Google and Israel's Reichman University plan to establish a school for high-tech professions that will provide equal opportunity and promote underrepresented populations.

In the new program, underrepresented populations such as women, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Arabs, the Ethiopian community and the geo-social periphery will receive scholarships to join the program regardless of their ability to pay tuition. 

Israel’s high-tech sector has suffered from a severe employee shortage for many years. At the end of 2021, the shortage was estimated to be about 18,000 people, up from 11,000 the previous year. According to Israel’s Innovation Authority annual report last May, the total number of workers in Israel’s high-tech industry reached about 400,000, representing around 10% of all employees. Despite the global crisis, which clearly affects also Israel’s high-tech industry, vacant positions accounted for more than 7%. 

Looking beyond the current crisis, the Israeli government and senior figures in the high-tech sector push to enlarge high-tech training programs, both academic and not.