Arab-Israelis, ultra-Orthodox, Palestinians shape future of Israeli tech
Starving for experienced workers, Israeli authorities and high-tech companies are investing in training young Palestinians and young people from the Israeli-Arab sector and the ultra-Orthodox community.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is a great advocate of Israel’s high-tech industry. His goal is for 1 million nationals to be employed by this sector in the near future. He believes this can be achieved within the next three to five years. Lapid often argues that the high-tech industry could fund other parts of the Israeli economy as well, since high-tech offices need security services, restaurants, etc.
"We have only one place to go: a million high-tech Israelis. When we invest in traditional industries, the market that we're aiming for is 9 million people. When we're investing in the high-tech market, we're aiming for 7 billion consumers. That's the difference. One million Israelis in high tech is an achievable number. Already today, 10 to 11% of the [Israeli] labor market is in high tech. We need to double that number," Lapid said on Feb. 13.
