According to new report released by the Employment Service today, there were 14,961 jobseekers in Israel’s technology industry in April. The figure is not surprising; it represents the continuation of a trend that has become steadily worse since 2022, when the technology labor market experienced an exceptional boom.
The current figure is double the figure for job seekers in the sector in January 2019, when it was 7,058, and is 21% higher than the figure in September 2023, just before the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, which was 12,355.
The rise in the number of unemployed people in the technology sector comes in a period in which the general labor market in Israel has been steadily recovering, and the overall unemployment rate has been falling. The report also shows that the rise in unemployment in technology is not limited to peripheral jobs in the sector or to people at the start of their careers, but is affecting the core of the industry. Growing numbers of developers, analysts, data experts, network specialists, and systems managers, roles that in the past were considered stable, are finding themselves without work.
The report also shows that the number of jobseekers in the technology sector as a proportion of all jobseekers reached 11% in April, an exceptionally high level that indicates deep change, not just in the number of layoffs but also in the profile of those laid off: more workers with experience, training, and advanced technological education, who are not necessarily managing to find new jobs.
Hit to veteran workers
The data indicate that those hardest hit are people in mid-career, aged 36-45. The Employment Service says that it could be that some junior workers do not appear in the statistics because they are not entitled to unemployment benefit, but even so, the rise in unemployment is most prominent among experienced workers whose jobs used to be considered safe.
Analysis of salary levels tends to confirm the picture. The average salary of technology job seekers has risen by 39% since the start of 2022, which is a steeper rise than the general rise in pay of workers in the sector in the same period, which was 24%.
It would normally be expected that among the jobseekers there would be a high proportion of starters or people on low pay, but the current statistics indicate the opposite. According to the report, the rise in the average salary of the jobseekers stems from the fact that it is mid-level employees, that is, experienced workers whose pay is not low but is also not the highest in the industry, who are being laid off most. The proportion of jobseekers earning NIS 25,600 to NIS 43,800 monthly shot up from just 15% in August 2022 to 40% in April 2025.
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The numbers are based on salary declarations of jobseekers registered with the Employment Service. They provide an insight not just into their personal situations, but also into the changing structure of the technology labor market.
The report finds that the rise in the number of technology jobseekers applies countrywide, but is most prominent in areas where the technology industry is concentrated, in Tel Aviv and the center of the country, where the number has risen by over 200% since 2019. There is also variation among sections of the population. Among haredi Jews, the number of unemployed technology workers has risen sharply, while the proportion of Arabs is actually falling, even though their number has risen slightly in absolute terms.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 13, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
