High-tech placement firms report increased demand for workers during the third quarter and say that many positions previously frozen have come back on the market, leading the firms to believe that the recession is over.
Nisha Group CEO Paule Tzuker says, "There is a feeling that the high-tech job market has revived. This was seen by the increase, albeit slight, in positions offered during the third quarter, although there was a slowdown in hiring during the holidays."
Nisha reports a 13% increase in available high-tech jobs in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter. Other job placement firms believe that the fourth quarter will see similar growth.
Tzuker says that there was a 14% increase in available software jobs in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter, and that the sector was as attractive as ever for job applicants with suitable degrees or veterans of IDF technology units and with prior job experience.
Most of the available jobs are related to programming language C (28% growth over the preceding quarter), and the Net sector (10% growth). There are also available jobs with no applicants, especially for Linux/Kernel software.
Despite the optimism, the shock waves from the crisis will continue to reverberate for a long time in the job market, as seen by the continuing dribble of layoffs at high-tech companies, such as at Alvarion Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR; TASE: ALVR) and Mobixcell Networks Inc.
Manpower Israel Ltd. subsidiary Manpower Information Technologies Ltd. (MIT) also reports an increase in demand for workers during the third quarter, although, 6.9%, it is less than at Nisha. MIT CEO Erez Banovitch said, "There was growth during the quarter in all professional categories, except for managers. This was the first quarterly increase after five consecutive quarters of decline in demand."
In terms of jobs, start-ups weathered the recession relatively well compared with large companies. Dialog Consulting for Human Resources Ltd. CEO Haia Borenstein says, "Until recently, there was a major difference in salaries between start-ups and large companies. This difference has narrowed. Large companies have better benefits, and that salaries are lower than at start-ups, but the overall salary structure is similar. People no longer think that if they have options, they'll become millionaires in a couple of years. There are differences in the nature of work at start-ups and high-tech companies, but not in salaries."
Borenstein adds, "At the end of the crisis, we're seeing that start-ups were not affected worse than large companies."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 26, 2009
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