There were 20% fewer hardware engineer positions in 2013 than in 2012, says Jobinfo Ltd. in its annual review of high-tech jobs. It attributes the loss of positions to the closing and mergers of hardware companies, which has been going on since 2011, and the manning of available jobs by laid off employees, with the result that no new positions opened.
At the same time, the number of jobs for software engineers at hardware and semiconductor companies has increased. Jobinfo attributes this growth to changes in the market as hardware companies switch to developing solutions to improve mobile and digital camera performance of smartphones, and 3D and sensors solutions for the motor vehicles industry.
The IVC Research Center survey found that hardware and semiconductors raised 16% of the capital raised in the third quarter of 2013, compared with 5% in the preceding quarters.
Jobinfo says that while the strong increase in capital raised may be positive for the sector, it should be noted that developments in the sector are more expensive and take longer than in the software and the Internet sectors, and that development costs in Israel are still higher than in Asia, so that it is premature to know for sure what it means.
Jobinfo notes growing demand for DevOps positions in software, at salaries of NIS 22,000-25,000. It also notes 38% growth in positions for mobile developers and iPhone and Android experts.
The growth in Internet positions, which began in 2012, continued through 2013, in line with developments in big data, information security, and cloud services. The challenges in these fields are growing with the increase in transactions via smartphones and tablets.
2013 showed that the Israeli high-tech market was strong and stable. According to IVC, it was the best year in a decade for venture capital-backed deals, which totaled $4.2 billion, 91% above the ten-year average of $2.2 billion.
"The mergers and acquisitions upheavals caused the firing of employees, but, happily, most of them found jobs," says Jobinfo CEO Ilana Ahimeir. "There was no crisis in sectors, such as hardware and semiconductors, which have weakened in recent years, thanks to growth in other areas."
Ahimeir adds, "We expect growth this year for skilled electronics and machinery engineers by medical devices, mobile communications, electro-optical components developers for the motor vehicles industry, and defense companies. The big challenge this year is in big data, where there are not enough skilled and experienced people. The universities only recently launched courses in this subject, and these students will only enter the job market in four years, but will have no skills or experience."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 20, 2014
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