Israel's Employment Service Reports Shift in Unemployment Landscape
Translated & summarized from NEWSru Israel by baba
Israel's Employment Service reported a rise in unemployment claims among programmers and administrative staff in September, linked to a high-tech slowdown and AI adoption. While overall job seekers decreased, the composition shifted, with IT and managerial roles seeing significant increases in claims. Vacancies for developers and engineers also declined, though demand in defense and cybersecurity remains high. Unemployment is still considered low and frictional.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Unemployment claims rose for Israeli programmers and administrative workers in September.
- High-tech slowdown and AI adoption are cited as contributing factors by the Employment Service.
- Overall job seekers decreased, but the profile of those seeking work has significantly changed.
- IT sector job seekers increased by 59.3% compared to September 2023.
- Job vacancies for software developers and engineers have declined.
- Demand for programmers remains high in defense, microchip, and cybersecurity industries.
Israel's Employment Service has reported a significant increase in unemployment benefit claims among programmers and administrative workers in September. The monthly labor market report attributes this rise, in part, to a slowdown in the high-tech sector, reductions in managerial and office positions, and the initial impacts of artificial intelligence adoption, though the service refrains from definitive conclusions.
Overall job seeker numbers decreased by 6.1% in September to 162,000, down from 172,500 in August. This reduction was primarily driven by the return to work of educators and trainers who were laid off for the summer. The labor market has technically returned to pre-war levels, with 163,700 job seekers in September 2023, but the composition of those seeking employment has changed.
Compared to September 2023, IT sector job seekers rose by 59.3%, accounting for 28.4% of the total increase. Administrative, sales, and marketing managers saw a 29.6% increase. Together, these two groups represent over half of the net rise in benefit claimants.
Concurrently, job vacancies for software developers dropped by 9%, engineers by 7%, and total IT vacancies fell from a peak of 10,200 at the start of the year to 9,500. The difficulties are not limited to entry-level positions; the proportion of programmers with over five years of experience seeking work increased from 44% in 2019 to 52% in Q3 2026, while those with less than three years of experience decreased from 37% to 23%.
Additionally, job seekers from socio-economic clusters 8-10 increased from 17.5% to 21.7%, and those in academic professions rose from 23% to 26%. In contrast, the number of recipients of minimum living income support, typically from vulnerable populations, fell from 48,000 in September 2023 to 33,300.
Despite these shifts, the Employment Service emphasized that unemployment in Israel remains low and is largely frictional. Demand for programmers continues to outstrip supply, particularly in defense, microchip manufacturing, and cybersecurity.
