The committee for increasing human capital in hi-tech, which was established by the government with the aim of increasing the proportion of people employed in hi-tech to 15% of the labor force in the economy, just published its final report.
The committee, chaired by Dadi Perlmutter, defined goals for integration into hi-tech in a long-term vision plan and key points of action to achieve them while referring to the existing manpower potential in Israel and in light of the barriers and opportunities for increasing employment in the field.
Two goals for increasing human capital in hi-tech
The final report defines two key goals for increasing human capital in Israeli hi-tech.
The short-term goal is to enable the growth of the number of tech jobs in Israel from approximately 453,000, now 14.4% of the workforce in 2021, to about 545,000 employed, or 16% of workers in 2026.
The long-term goal is to allow the continued increase in the number of employees to about 690-770,000 by the year 2035 or 18%-20% of the workforce.
Tech school?
Regarding the education system, the committee recommends increasing the number of those eligible for the "tech matriculation" with an emphasis on populations in the periphery.
It was recommended that a goal be set for the education system to increase the rate of those eligible for the tech matriculation from 9% in 2021 to 15% in 2028, by reducing gaps between the various population groups.
Another recommendation is to develop a prestigious national-civilian technological service, while giving priority to the integration of underrepresented populations that don’t serve in the IDF.
The committee also wants to emphasize the promotion of the Hi-Tech 3.0 program, which is expected to significantly increase the number of students in hi-tech professions and to facilitate moves to integrate specializations and technological courses in degrees that aren’t in hi-tech professions, which will allow graduates of these degrees to integrate into hi-tech.
The report stated that in the committee’s opinion, a paradigm shift is required when looking at the hi-tech field and a broader definition is needed to optimally reflect the scope of demand and the skills required for the competitiveness of the Israeli economy in the digital world in general and in the hi-tech industry in particular.
The committee then recommends a new definition of "tech jobs" which will include all those employed between the ages of 25-64 in the hi-tech industry.
This new definition will enable the establishment of government policy based on a deeper understanding of the demand for human capital and skills required for integration into hi-tech while acknowledging how the digital revolution has affected the entire economy.