93% of Olim cite job discrimination

[Dave Bender]

93% of Olim cite job discrimination

Hi all, Following is a pretty scandalous article just out in the Jerusalem Post saying, "93% of Anglo olim feel job discrimination" according to a recent poll. I welcome new and potential immigrants to write in with: * Your opinions and experiences in the job search and career choices in the Israeli market. * Have any of you directly experienced such reported predjudice during job interviews? * What do you see as the reason behind such attitudes by employers towards Olim? * How would you improve the odds of landing and holding a position in the admittedly tough job market? Looking forward to reading your replies. DB

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hilary Leila Krieger Jan. 24, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ninety-three percent of English-speaking immigrants have felt discriminated against in the workplace because they are olim, according to a survey released last week. Of the English-speaking immigrants polled, some 84% reported that their salary and career advancement are worse here than in their native lands, and 73% earned less than the Israeli average during their first few years in the country. The written survey was distributed over the last six months to 5,000 Anglos who had moved to Israel within the past 10 years and searched for jobs within the last two. It was conducted by Yeud Human Resources, a company that helps immigrants train and find work. "If it's by salary, if it's by hours, if it's by attitude, they feel discriminated against because they don't get the things Israelis get for the same job," Yeud spokesman Yariv Paz said. He added that the same problems arise when Yeud acts as a middleman for Israeli companies seeking to hire workers: a job listed at NIS 5,000 per month may drop to NIS 4,000 when the employer finds out the applicant is an immigrant. That some olim feel discriminated against came as no shock, he said, but such a high percentage was surprising. The survey also found that during interviews, 88% were told that their lack of fluent Hebrew or an Israeli accent was an obstacle to being hired, while 81% felt their prospective employer slighted their foreign credentials and previous job experience. It took the immigrants an average of eight months to find their first job here. Neil Gillman, aliya counselor for the United Jewish-Israel Appeal, which helps British Commonwealth immigrants, said that he was surprised such a large percentage of Anglos felt discriminated against, even though it's quite common for them to "take a step back" when initially looking for work here. He also said most people understand the economic situation is worse here than in their former countries, so making less money is an accepted part of aliya. Josie Arbel, director of absorption services for the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, said the results are "fully understandable, because often the language and the very real cultural differences certainly come into play at a place like a job interview." She said some Anglos might interpret the Israeli interviewers' different expectations and questions as discrimination, but many merely identify it as a cultural gap or explain it as "we didn't click." Gillman added, "I think olim do get to the highest levels in pretty much every career field, but it might take a little time to adjust." This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1074931451363

 

[SupermanZW]

It is true

I was born in Israel but I know about cases of job discrimination against olim, the discrimination is not only against anglo olim but against all kinds of olim, most olim find jobs only in areas that require much lower skills than the skills they have and even in these jobs they get paid less than israeli born employees or olim that came to Israel before them. The worst discrimination is against the newest olim , so olim are discriminated according to their time in Israel and hebrew skills, olim that aquired their education in Israel are usually less discriminated than olim who didn't study in Israel.