Israeli high-tech is enjoying a record year. Last week, the IVC Research Center and KPMG released figures showing tech-sector firms raised a total of $3.2 billion in the first nine months of 2015 - compared to a year-end total of $3.4 billion in 2014.
The staggering sums trickle down to startups and their employees, allowing those workers to improve their salaries. High-tech employment agency See.V published recruitment figures for the field in the third quarter of 2015, which continued their positive trend.
According to See.V, the average pre-tax monthly salary of a programmer was NIS 24,629 in the previous quarter -- an impressive rise of 3.5% from the second quarter's average of NIS 23,800.
The flush atmosphere in the tech sector allows employees with relatively minimal seniority to negotiate for -- and receive -- better terms. See.V said the workers recruited in the third quarter had an average of 4.5 years of experience.
"The high-tech firms are breaking recruiting records right now," said See.V CEO Merav Laifer. "It only intensifies the demand for experienced workers and the number of positions opening daily. We are seeing more and more openings being filled in rapid fashion, within a mere week or two."
A closer look at the numbers reveals the most in-demand position in the past quarter was "full stack developer", whose pay increased 5% from the previous quarter up to NIS 23,240. In second place were mobile developers, with a 10% increase from last quarter, up to NIS 23,430.
In the mobile subfield, three times as many positions were filled for Android (Google) developers than iOS (Apple) developers.
The demand for Java and C developers, on the other hand, dropped 17.3% and 29.2%, respectively. But while Java developers' pay packet was hit by a 9.7% decrease to NIS 25,200 per month, C developers actually saw their salary increase by 7.5% to NIS 27,150.
"High-tech sector workers have never had it so well, and it'll get even better for them in the current quarter," Laifer said. "Our expectation for October to December is for new records to be reached in the number of open positions and in the number of successful placements.
"The reason is simple: both startups and established players will invest their 2015 budget surplus on HR efforts and recruitments through the end of the year. As such, it will be a fantastic quarter for quality candidates," she added.
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See.V pointed out a decline in the number of new positions opened during the third quarter but attributed the slowdown to the extended holiday period which substantially impaced the number of work days in September.
The recruiting firm also looked into the geographic determinants of available positions and discovered -- unsurprisingly -- that the "Startup Nation" is centered between Gedera in the south and Hadera in the north, with a strong presence in Tel Aviv and Herzliya Pituach.
The number of job openings in Tel Aviv for the third quarter was 319 compared to 340 in Q2. The White City, however, remains the uncontestable high-tech capital of Israel, as it accounted for 43.7% of all new openings.
Herzliya -- primarily the beachside neighborhood of Herzliya Pituach -- trailed in second place with 15.2% of new positions. Ra'anana, Ramat Gan, and Petah Tikva also placed near the top of the list, though Netanya was the most improved with 26 new positions in the third quarter compared to only 16 in Q2.
Meanwhile, the demand for Israeli developers has also been growing abroad. Laifer said: "As Israeli programmers are being drawn to relocation, we will begin focusing on liaising with recruiters from abroad this quarter."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 26, 2015
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