OurCrowd: Tech hiring in Israel up 400% in last six months
Every day during the fourth quarter of 2020, OurCrowd companies posted an average of 14 job openings.
By ZEV STUBOurCrowd is Israel's main crowdfunding platform - raising millions for fledgling start-ups.(photo credit: OURCROWD)
While Israel struggles with unprecedented unemployment levels due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hi-tech sector is flourishing. OurCrowd, a global venture investment platform, said Tuesday that the number of tech jobs available in Israel for its portfolio companies rose by 400% during the last six months.For OurCrowd portfolio companies around the world, the number of jobs available more than doubled from 350 in June 2020 to 912 in December 2020. The number of job openings in Israel rose by 400% during the same period to more than 200. The positions were advertised by a hundred of OurCrowd’s portfolio of companies and funds.Every day during the fourth quarter of 2020, OurCrowd companies posted an average of 14 job openings, up from 13 per day during the third quarter and 10 per day during the second quarter, when uncertainty was at a peak, OurCrowd said.Demand grew the fastest for software engineers, followed by sales and business development, the report said. Of OurCrowd portfolio companies, about a third surveyed said they hired more aggressively during the pandemic than before the crisis, while 23% said they hired at a slower pace.Looking ahead, companies were split nearly evenly over whether they would be hiring cautiously or aggressively in the coming year. But the vast majority (86%) said they will offer employees to maintain a mix of in-person and remote working, while only 14% said they expect all employees to be back in the workplace by July 1.“We are thrilled to see the growth and job creation taking place within our portfolio companies," said OurCrowd Partner and Head of Business Development Laly David. "Despite the lingering pandemic and fears that the economy would take a long time to recover, many of the startups backed by OurCrowd are already emerging strongly from the downturn.”OurCrowd, rated by PitchBook as the most active venture investor in Israel, has raised $1.5 billion of committed funding, as well as investments for more than 240 portfolio companies and 25 venture funds. OurCrowd’s network includes 70,000 individual accredited and institutional investors, family offices and venture capital partners from over 195 countries.
